Sunday, September 24, 2023 “Words are Not Enough” by Lori Desrosiers
Some days I realize
that all I have is words
which are not enough
though I also have
this body to push with
its muscles and sinew
the bit of strength in them
and there is also music
the sound of rain on canvas
the roiling of waves
my feet lead me to dunes
or over stone bridges
and the smell of moss,
lavender, or grape iris
and the taste of roses,
fog, or salt in the wind
creak of tree sap
wails of nesting crows
orange hills at dusk
then indigo evening
and limitless starlight
which is
more than I can fathom
or just enough.
About the Poet
Lori (Lee) Desrosiers’ poetry books are “The Philosopher’s Daughter” (Salmon Poetry, Ireland, 2013), “Sometimes I Hear the Clock Speak” (Salmon, 2016) and “Keeping Planes in the Air” (Salmon, 2020). This poem is the concluding poem in her collection “Keeping Planes in the Air.”
Desrosiers has also published two chapbooks, “Inner Sky” and “typing with e.e. cummings” with Glass Lyre Press. Their poems have appeared in Ms. Magazine, The New York Times, New Millennium Review, Split this Rock, Contemporary American Voices, String Poet, Blue Fifth Review, Pirene’s Fountain, New Verse News, Mom Egg Review, Cutthroat and many other journals and anthologies.
Desrosiers holds an MFA in Poetry from New England College. They won the Liakoura Prize from Glass Lyre Books, and X.J. Kennedy chose their poem “That Pomegranate Shine” for the Brockton Society for Poetry and the Arts Poetry Prize. Their work has been nominated for the 2015 and 2020 Pushcart Prize. They edit Naugatuck River Review, a journal of narrative poetry and Wordpeace.co, an online journal dedicated to peace and social justice.
Desrosiers teaches Literature and Composition at Westfield State University, Poetry in the Lesley University M.F.A. graduate program, and is a mentor and manuscript consultant privately and with Cutthroat Journal’s mentoring program.
Related Event
- Lori Desrosiers will join Buffalo-based poet Perry S. Nicholas at the next Buffalo Corner Reading Series event at 7 p.m. on Thursday, September 28th at Congregation Shir Shalom, 4660 Sheridan Drive, Amherst, NY. This will by a hybrid event, both live and in person as well as on the video conferencing platform Zoom. Please contact www.shirshalombuffalo.org for a free link to the event.
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.