The Widow Kramer
\nRitzville, Washington, 1918<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In billowing black, her pitchfork raised, she
\nchased a coyote out into her wheat.<\/p>\n
Behind her: children,
\nhorses, milk cow, chickens, geese,
\nghost of a man,<\/p>\n
sagebrush, mountain
\nrange, width of a country, an ocean,
\na sea, length of the Volga, a war,<\/p>\n
ghost of the town
\nshe called home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Muriel Nelson <\/a>has two collections of poems: Part Song<\/em>,<\/a> winner of the Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Book Prize (Bear Star Press, 1999), and Most Wanted<\/em>, <\/a>winner of the ByLine Chapbook Award (ByLine Press, 2003).\u00a0 Nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize, her work has appeared in The New Republic, Ploughshares,<\/em> Beloit Poetry Journal, <\/a>The Massachusetts Review, Northwest Review,<\/a> Seattle Review,<\/a> <\/em>and several anthologies, <\/em>and on Verse Daily <\/em>and Poetry Daily. <\/em>\u00a0She holds master’s degrees from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and the University of Illinois School of Music, and lives in Federal Way.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Widow Kramer Ritzville, Washington, 1918 In billowing black, her pitchfork raised, she chased a coyote out into her wheat. Behind her: children, horses, milk cow, chickens, geese, ghost of a man, sagebrush, mountain range, width of a country, … Continue reading
\n<\/em>“The Widow Kramer” previously appeared in\u00a0Part Song <\/em>(Bear Star Press).<\/p>\n