She

Spiel

dirt

fern phoned long distance
around dusk—that piteous voice.
said she could not bear

          one more day on earth
          without amos.

asked if paul and i
would come

          and just put me under the dirt.

i said,

          you know we can’t do that.

i had a sense of her,
smoldering,
like a lone campfire coal,
abandoned in wilderness—

regretting
it had not been doused
by the last human
occupant

and not a possible drop
of rain in sight.

ISBN 1-59661-089-1
36 pages/$9

Both inevitable and fresh, she: insinuations of flesh brooding displays Spiel’s ever-present, intelligent, and sophisticated ear for language, his singular vision, and, most importantly, his self assurance to proceed on nerve alone. Spiel implicitly rebukes the tradition that has attempted to erase women’s lives and transform or translate women into emblems of art. Instead, Spiel positions, as subjects of the poems, ordinary women living real but extraordinary lives. In so doing, he appropriately shifts from the scalding rage of his previous book, they, to a tone more intimate and self-reflexive. Spiel’s craft is not showy or adorned, but rather dignified and quiet, giving his voice a no-nonsense authority. Indeed, Spiel writes with an authority of voice rarely achieved by either man or woman in the small press.
—Don Winter

A Pushcart Prize contender, frequently published online and in independent press journals in the United States (as well as in Britain, Nepal, Indonesia, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Canada), The Poet Spiel creates diverse works of social consciousness. Learn more about his body of poetry, short stories, spoken word, and art at www.thepoetspiel.name.

Photo credit: Pueblo City/County Library District