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Four Poems

Ode to Stretchmarks

Ode to Stretchmarks by Janlori Goldman

 

Elegy for your Breasts

Elegy for Your Breasts by Janlori Goldman

 

Amber Cloud

Amber Cloud by Janlori Goldman

 

Spring Cleaning

Juniper,!holly,!boxwood—!they!never!let!go!of!prickly!green,!! ! slouch!against!the!house,!sharp3tongued!and!stolid.!! Who!planted!these!yard!brats?!Why!not!camellia,!! ! she!too!never!drops!her!leaves!but!embarrasses!! with!showy!bloom.!Let’s!rip!out!Mr.!Boxwood,! ! uproot!him!for!lack!of!imagination,!!! his!bureaucrat’s!way!of!going!along,!! ! same!attitude!every!day,!same!complaint,!! ! never!a!budge!or!bend!of!the!rules.!!! ! For!the!daisy’s!sake,!we’ll!donate!the!shrubs!! to!the!county!clerk’s!office,!that!low!brick!enforcer.!!! ! In!this!time!of!shedding!and!rebud,!! when!everything!else!is!full!of!effort,!! ! let’s!free!the!house,!use!the!front!door.!

Janlori Goldman‘s poem “At the Cubbyhole Bar” was chosen by Gerald Stern for the Raynes Prize. Janlori co-edits “The Wide Shore: A Journal of Global Women’s Poetry,” www.thewideshore.org. She teaches at Columbia University and is a writing mentor to cancer survivors at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.