Poetry
From Issue I (2016) Pishing
by ERIN ELKINS RADCLIFFE
Rain is the gentlest trigger to drink:
you believed in hillocks
and not hills
and this is just creed
but not any cause
for burgeoning,
for all these bright banners for place
Here I’m teasing out the long peal
the single peeew
of a goldfinch
because this is the one sound
for the blue space
in between the topped trees
The simian beards us
names us, makes us measure seasons
as plateaus of dust
when only the mountains
move us from thirst to wet
I cannot reckon
our unlikeness to hives
but except for the draping hems of cranes
that hold us to earth
the rudder beneath us is flesh,
apparent.
Whooping Cranes with Polluted Sky | JENNY KENDLER
Graphite, gouache, and watercolor on paper, 16 1/4 x 12 1/4 in., 2010
Erin Elkins Radcliffe
Erin Elkins Radcliffe’s poems have recently appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, San Pedro River Review, Rogue Agent, and Coal Hill Review. Originally from Indiana, Erin lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her family. More of Erin’s work can be found at erinelkinsradcliffe.com.
Jenny Kendler
Jenny Kendler is an interdisciplinary artist, environmental activist, naturalist, wild forager, and social entrepreneur. She is the first artist-in-residence with environmental nonprofit NRDC. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at museums and public venues. She is vice president of the artist residency ACRE and cofounded the artist website service OtherPeoplesPixels and The Endangered Species Print Project, which has raised over $14,000 for conservation. See more of her work at jennykendler.com.