Deborah Fass – Two New Poems
DROUGHT
Where last night I walked alone,
past the field to the parking lot –
the silent field, at the end
of the driest winter on record –
tonight, in this light rain,
a frog’s
loud, persistent, guttural:
urge, urge, urge.
STILL LIFE
After a day of catching up
on families and dreams and jobs,
we say goodbye
on the windy porch,
next to muddy shoes,
a plastic shopping bag,
upright and open,
wind tugging the flapping handles,
grounded by its load
of lemons, handfuls of yellow
fruit. Here, you say,
the tree gave much this year.
Deborah Fass was born and raised in Southern California, moved to Japan with a Japanese Ministry of Education Research Fellowship, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she teaches English as a Second Language. Deborah has a Master of Arts degree and is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate. Deborah’s work has appeared in literary journals including New Directions and Hummingbird.