Memory Is a Field That Stirs

Abstract

Memory Is a Field That Stirs Alison Palmer (bio) Brought about by winter sun,sitting in a chair, on the balcony, reading failure into a poemabout failure, not entirely in the dream, but the dreamer—this is to say, I wish you well. And the woods in front of mesuffocate to get out from under the woods, justfor this afternoon— it's not your fault the treeswere afire more often than not. Perhaps, a night with the moon,its rounded wings ready for flight. You were the dreamer unmatchedfor what my body required— it's not your fault the birdscircled us, always waiting for some end. I wish, though,that we had proved them wrong. [End Page 27] Alison Palmer Alison Palmer received her MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. work appears in FIELD, Bear Review, River Styx, Glass, Columbia Poetry Review, The Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of Poet's Billow's Atlantis Award and was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets 2017. Alison's chapbook, The Need for Hiding, is newly available from Dancing Girl Press. She lives outside Washington, DC. Copyright © 2018 University of Wisconsin Board of Regents