PRATIK HIGHLIGHT: Vermont’s poet laureate, Chard deNiord's new poem, "Tenkwatawa" in the Current issue

 

Chard DeNiord

Tenkwatawa

I sit all day on the lawn in front of the mountains

remembering one thing after the other

in no particular order, so that when I’m asked

to recall something in particular, like the name

of Tecumseh’s brother, I am at a loss, staring at the haze

on the ridge for clues, giving the impression

that I’m ignoring my inquisitors and have lost my mind.

I am waiting for a burning wheel to descend

from the sky to cure my memory with fire.

I’m waiting for names to fly down in the form

of birds I thought were extinct but live

in my hair without my knowing it, nesting

              there like the hat I wear with long dark wings.

 

 

 

Vermont’s poet laureate, Chard deNiord is author of six books of poetry, including In My Unknowing, Interstate, The Double Truth  and Night Mowing (All from University of Pittsburgh Press). He is also the author of two books of interviews with eminent American poets, I Would Lie To You If I Could and Sad Friends, Drowned Lovers, Stapled Song. A professor of English and Creative Writing at Providence College and a trustee of the Ruth Stone Trust, deNiord lives in Westminster West, Vermont with his wife Liz. 

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