Lessons
by Susanna Lang
— who would believe them winged
— in memoriam Lucille Clifton
Today your crows are nearly
speechless.
Only one bird calls from the other side
of the river,
naming the bareness of the branches,
their upstretched grace.
You taught us to listen to crows
and foxes,
taught us to do the work that Adam did
in the garden.
When we did not find the right names
despite your lessons
you leaned across the table, saying
You know I love you, don’t you?
We will be more precise in our naming.
It is all we can do
when you are no longer here in the winter garden,
showing us how to do the work.
Michael Macklin
is an associate editor with The Café Review. Lately, he has been working with local poets and police officers to produce The Portland Police Poetry Calendar 2010. He learned a great deal from his friend and mentor, and fellow digger in the dirt, Jack Myers.
Meghan Cadwallader
began writing as soon as she could read, but her formal education includes a BA in French/English from Hollins University, a Master’s in English from Bucknell University and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine. Her nonfiction has appeared in So To Speak and is forthcoming in Oyez Review. Her poetry will appear in the Spring 2010 issue of The Fourth River. She is currently planning her escape from Central Pennsylvania where she lives with her partner, Kristen.
Stephen Koharian
Stephen Koharian is a Portland, Maine native and Maine College of Art graduate whose great – grandparents escaped the Turkish genocide of the Armenians during the years of 1915 to 1923, in which 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Ottoman Empire. He hopes that through his art, he is able to provoke more discussion about the genocide. His use of the term “Turkishness” in titling some of his pieces is illegal in Turkey. His work was most recently on display in November 2009 at Portland’s Two Point Gallery and was also featured in a cover story in November in the Portland monthly newspaper, The Bollard. More about his artwork may be viewed at, www.stephenkoharian.com
