Open bellows
bloom birch beams. Pump
cottonwood stain, spin linen
slips, varnish raffia. Mill
walnut planks, cedar shiplap.
Shake the soffit, prime the doors.
Sheath the windows in pewter
nimbus & wool skein. Hone
the lace white, blow mercury
lamp, glass beaker. Wire holes,
trim bulbs. Polish nickel knobs,
pulls poised. Silent
oiled bronze levers—keyed,
bolted. Eyebrows at the back
gable, seal the flat-felled seam.
SALLY STEWART MOHNEY’S poetry collection, Low Country, High Water, won the Southern Poetry Anthology Prize: North Carolina. Other publications include pale blue mercy (Main Street Rag Author’s Choice Series) and A Piece of Calm (Finishing Line Press). Her work has appeared in The Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Broad River Review, Cortland Review, Iodine Poetry Journal, San Pedro River Review, Southern Poetry Anthology, Town Creek Poetry, Verse Daily and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the Jesse Rehder Writing Prize.
