Poetry: The Heart of the Matter by Kimberly Ann Southwick
Kimberly Ann Southwick’s “The Heart of the Matter” performs the life of spring with such delicate aural precision—to read the poem is to feel yourself ringing a slim plate of porcelain against the table, listening to the cracks patiently spread, paired like couplets.
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
who can dispute the name of a thing, one thousand different
flowers reign, royalty of redeye morning. I, indica, oceanblue,
favor the clasp of a redwasp, the pulp of mudcones, the closed
slip of her when sky clouds over, the shadequeens, cardamom
bold, light sensitive tooth-builders. the rain, the rain, the puddles,
the rain. when you soak their wings in vinegar, when you mummify
their plastic cocoons, when the internet is mad about a sandwich, the heart
of the matter, the heart of the neverfrozen thing. the flies explode, buzzing
against the window. the see-through needle-eye spiders swing
from the hammock. the birds are gone when the seed is gone.
the purpleblack morning glories of Philadelphia are the purpleblue
morning glories of the South. cups for squash tears, the closed eyelids
of the pleated fence. the wasps are busy, watching over the garden.
the flowers sulk & bend their way around the wood like a limp hug.
Kimberly Ann Southwick
Kimberly Ann Southwick is an Aries with a Capricorn Moon & Ascendant. She is the founder and editor in chief of the literary arts journal GIGANTIC SEQUINS, which has been in print since 2009. She has two poetry chapbooks, most recently EFS & VEES from Hyacinth Girl Press. She is a PhD candidate in English with a concentration in Creative Writing at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she co-hosts the Thursday Night Reading Series. Her current manuscript in circulation, ORCHID ALPHA, was a finalist for the 2018 Moon City Press prize in Poetry. Kimberly lives in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana with her husband, Geoffrey, and their dogs, Jasper and Nova. Find out more by visiting her online at kimberlyannsouthwick.com or following her on twitter @kimannjosouth.
