Unbearable, the snowdrops, as if wintercould be something lived through.Overmuch, this reminder of life,the dead earth candling its sorrowswith bowed heads in silent mourning.Implausible, to have been—meaning to have harmed, to have cutthe bud by the root—as if being could ever,perpetually, end with softness. Or beginin Kyrie eleison, a call echoed by white bells.
Faint Stars of Dread
Gillian Cummings
Feature Date
- August 28, 2018
Series
Selected By
Share This Poem
Print This Poem
Copyright © 2018 by Gillian Cummings
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission
Gillian Cummings is the author of The Owl Was a Baker’s Daughter, selected by John Yau as the winner of the 2018 Colorado Prize for Poetry (forthcoming in November 2018) and My Dim Aviary, winner of the 2015 Hudson Prize (Black Lawrence Press, 2016). Her poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Boulevard, The Journal, The Laurel Review, and Linebreak. Her website is www.gilliancummingspoet.com.
Issue 15
North Adams, Massachusetts
Editor-in-Chief: Kristina Marie Darling
Associate Editor-in-Chief: Emma Bolden
Tupelo Press discovers luminous writers, gives each author the vessel of a beautiful book, and shares their passions with as many readers as possible. Tupelo’s list speaks to the diversity of influences upon contemporary art and culture, and the Press takes a keen interest in promoting a dialogue between the written and fine arts.
In this digital milieu, Tupelo Quarterly extends and expands upon that vision, publishing work by emerging and established writers and artists of many sensibilities and styles.
In addition to a stunning poem or story on the page, we want to include work that takes full advantage of the medium. We want to honor the art as received, and to extend the scope of what a literary journal can do.
Tupelo Quarterly cultivates generous artistic community, celebrates intellectual curiosity and creative risk, and presumes abundance.
We hold the gate open, not closed.
Poetry Daily Depends on You
With your support, we make reading the best contemporary poetry a treasured daily experience. Consider a contribution today.
