Klara du Plessis
The Poetess (Joan Miró)
I am mistress
of my aggressive gestures.
When I tear the sheet
drying on the line and throw it
to the floor, folds face down as told.
I wonder at the possibility of writing
in an autocratic way,
keeping poetry in its place, speak
when spoken to. We lock the lilies
into the spare room at night
because the scent threatens
the flared nostril { slight curl to the lip
prefabricated honour of a life
lived in submission to yourself
A letter is an immediate dedication
Love, I planted your bouquet and
all the flowers are growing
especially the succulent with the thorns
at its fingertips thrives
but also the creepers and soon
the pot will be too small to handle
them.
Klara du Plessis is a poet and critic residing in Montreal. Her multilingual debut collection, Ekke, was released from Palimpsest Press, spring 2018; and her chapbook, Wax Lyrical—shortlisted for the bpNichol Chapbook Award—appeared with Anstruther Press, 2015. Klara is the editor-in-chief for carte blanche. Follow her @ToMakePoesis.
