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Nicole Callräm

how to pray

            “I touch leaves, I close my eyes and think of water”
                                                            —James Wright*
 
your departure left an abandoned church, a deep well I
chant into— forty moonless nights fast from feast, from touch
 
your absence is concentric, a quaking heartbeat— leaves
cool as earth, still like bark, fingertips tentative— now I
 
no longer remember how to stop breathing air/you in, close
these lips against invading memories, close this door to my
 
thorned heart,              o, eternity’s curtain— o, downcast eyes
I know there is some goodness here for me, sliced pears and
 
deep sleep promised me that.  & I fall I fall to my knees, think
of us, you, raw vulnerability of autumn’s last days, the folly of
a faithless one like me praying to find meaning in still water
 
 
            *Golden Shovel based on James Wright’s “Trying to Pray”

Biography

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Nicole Callräm (she/her/她) is a nomadic bureaucrat and disciple of existence in all her life-affirming and confusing manifestations.  She adores rideshare bikes, red wine, and Osmanthus flowers (preferably a mix of the three...all at once).  Nicole has been published in A Shanghai Poetry Zine, Nude Studio, Rat’s Ass Review, and Alluvium.  She attends the Shanghai Inkwell Poetry Workshop, constantly learning how to be better and braver from these creative souls.  You can find her on Twitter at @YiminNicole.   
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ISSN 2639-426X
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    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions