Remark the Similarity by Mercedes Lawry


 
Pretend the cormorant
is your late uncle or totem
or dance partner or family crest.
Or don’t indulge in fey
phantasmagory.
Simply observe the curve
of the neck and be delighted.
Let all curves bring such pleasure,
moon in all its stages,
sloping shoulders.
Take each metaphor thrust at you
and toss it back. This creates
a map of the world,
useful and nicely colored
as if good quality pencils had been used,
suitable for art.
 
 
 
Mercedes Lawry’s poems are published in Poetry, Natural Bridge, Nimrod, and Prairie Schooner. She has published two chapbooks: “There are Crows in My Blood” and “Happy Darkness.” She has received honors from the Seattle Arts Commission, Jack Straw Foundation, Artist Trust and Richard Hugo House, been a Pushcart nominee twice and held a residency at Hedgebrook. She has also published short fiction as well as stories and poems for children.