Wendy Barker
Bio:
Wendy Barker’s seventh full-length collection of poems, Gloss, was published in 2020 from St. Julian Press. Her sixth collection, One Blackbird at a Time, was chosen for the John Ciardi Prize and was published by BkMk Press in 2015. Earlier book collections include her novel in prose poems, Nothing Between Us: The Berkeley Years (runner-up for the Del Sol Prize and released by Del Sol Press in 2009); Poems from Paradise (WordTech, 2005); Way of Whiteness (Wings Press, 2000); Let the Ice Speak (Ithaca House, 1991); and Winter Chickens (Corona Publishing Co., 1990).
A WANING MOON BRINGS
Time to declutter, remove the old stuff that's been jangling chordswhile clogging your veinsas outdated cans clink on pantry shelvesand clothes you never wear cram your closet. Now darkness gathers from all corners ofthe sky, so our rooms will turn toward newsilences without the clatter of more news carped on TVor toxic emails from hostile colleagues or a harrowing thought I can dwell on far too long till I want to crawl under blankets and not pullout till the sweet man I know loves me willreassure me thatit's okay to go dark, quiet for a time,since silence can bethe most musical sound, and darkness may reveal what glaring lights might be hiding.