The Lake Makes a Mirror<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She sees herself on the surface, a little wavy,
\nas though looking through old glass.<\/p>\n
The wind arrives, ruffles her image, rustles
\nthrough willows along the shore,<\/p>\n
each leaf turning like another page
\nand she sees the plots unfold<\/p>\n
in shifting currents, the water\u2019s texture
\nbecoming a scheme she can open<\/p>\n
like the paper fortune tellers
\nshe folded as a girl. Here,<\/p>\n
she writes a new future without worry,
\nchooses a villain<\/p>\n
who makes a suave entrance
\nand looks nothing like a crab.<\/p>\n
Evasive, the lake\u2019s face hides
\nthe light she knows will come<\/p>\n
when this weather has done its work.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lake Makes a Mirror\u201d previously appeared in Into the Rumored Spring, <\/em>Ravenna Press, and in The Midwest Quarterly.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Joannie Stangeland\u2019s<\/a> third book of poems, Into the Rumored Spring<\/a><\/em>, was published by Ravenna Press last fall. Her chapbook A Steady Longing for Flight<\/em> won the inaugural Floating Bridge Press Chapbook Award<\/a>, and her chapbook Weathered Steps<\/a><\/em> was published by Rose Alley Press. Joannie\u2019s poems have appeared in Crab Creek Review<\/em>, Floating Bridge Review<\/em>, Valparaiso Poetry Review<\/em>, Many Trials to the Summit<\/em>, Fire On Her Tongue<\/em>, and other publications. Joannie was a 2003 Jack Straw writer<\/a>, and she serves as poetry editor for the online journal The Smoking Poet<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n READING: \u00a0Joannie Stangeland will be reading from Into the Rumored Spring<\/em> at Elliott Bay Books<\/a> in Seattle, tomorrow, October 13, at 5:00 pm. \u00a0Poet Marjorie Manwaring will join her with poems from her new chapbook, What to Make of a Diminished Thing. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Lake Makes a Mirror She sees herself on the surface, a little wavy, as though looking through old glass. The wind arrives, ruffles her image, rustles through willows along the shore, each leaf turning like another page and … Continue reading