No. 41 Summer 2023

Traci Brimhall Hating the Phoenix is

hating a myth and hating a myth is hating a swan’s wind
under my dress and a wind under my dress is a confession
and a confession is dyeing my hair sangria and hair dyed
sangria is a sadness and sadness is a sane emotion
and a sane emotion is candling an egg and egg candling is
flirting with a god and flirting with a god is a rising and not
the pain it requires and the pain it requires is a valentine
and a valentine is kindling for February and kindling in
February is a playlist of old pop songs and a playlist
of old pop songs is a seance of ghosts and a seance
of ghosts is sexing the shadows and sex in the shadows
is bullying your name to my lips and your name on my lips
is a fire’s career in hunger and a fire’s career in hunger is
a tax paid in ashes and a tax paid in ashes is a marriage
and a marriage is Forgive me and forgiving me is another
weeping and another weeping is a pair of wings beating
red and breathless beneath my dress, alive enough to burn.


Traci Brimhall’s latest book is Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod (Copper Canyon Press, 2020). She is the current poet laureate of Kansas.