ANDREA POTOS
Upon Entering the House of the Late, Great Poet
No nightingales sang,
no ancient urns
mused aloud,
but the air –
in the midst of wide quietness –
the air met me
with a weight, a texture
like vellum bearing
an onslaught of lost words
my whole body read at once.
In January Cold
I think of the pickled people,
popular when I was in college –
wizened creatures in nylon
and calico polyester
smushed inside a jar.
Adorable or sick,
I could never decide;
either way,
they had no way out.
Andrea Potos is the author of four poetry collections, most recently We Lit the Lamps Ourselves from Salmon Poetry, and Yaya's Cloth from Iris Press. Another collection from Salmon will be published in 2015. Her poems appear widely online and in print. Andrea lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her family.
