05 Jan My Heart is a Lakeside City in January by Rachel Valente
My heart is the big fish, the silver hook,
and the hands that fight to reel it in, all at once.
She is a beer bottle
elbowed off the side of a boat,
adrift and learning the strangeness of the world.
So much is angular and blinding and terrific,
piled and shapeshifting
like Erie in the throes of wintertime.
When home calls me like a distant train whistle,
my heart is turned echoing silo.
I couldn’t tell you what I am,
but my heart is the place that raised her.
She knows how to dress for the cold.
She knows how to wait for the thaw.
and the hands that fight to reel it in, all at once.
She is a beer bottle
elbowed off the side of a boat,
adrift and learning the strangeness of the world.
So much is angular and blinding and terrific,
piled and shapeshifting
like Erie in the throes of wintertime.
When home calls me like a distant train whistle,
my heart is turned echoing silo.
I couldn’t tell you what I am,
but my heart is the place that raised her.
She knows how to dress for the cold.
She knows how to wait for the thaw.
About the Poet
Rachel Valente is a writer, editor, and paralegal currently based in Pittsburgh, PA, but looking forward to returning to her home city of Buffalo in the near future. She has found that the world is at its most brilliant when viewed through the lens of poetry, and seeks inspiration in every nook and cranny. Other pieces of her work can be found in Applause and Gandy Dancer.
This poem is one of many responses to Just Buffalo Literary Center’s call for work inspired by the National Endowment for the Arts The Big Read Program’s “Where We Live” writing prompt.
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.