Tricia Knoll

Sunday Afternoon in Early September

This afternoon we will have cleaning of spirits. Need brought on by the sight of myself
in the mirror. I look far gone. No dust mops, straw brooms, or old rag, and I scrub the
idea of dry martinis with three olives.

after leaf fall
on the frog pond
scum

Let’s start by sharing a picture of a cedar waxwing on a drying vine eating a raspberry
from the Audubon calendar. And sip green tea with lemon peel and ginger. No honey
in yours. I’ll tell the story of saving the life of a waxwing’s leg caught in the string on a
trellis in my garden. You may speak about short-life laptop batteries for a few minutes.
I will share predictions of rain after a morning of gloom. We will discuss drought that
is not apparent here. You may bring out your close-ups of azaleas and rhododendrons
taken during your walk to Lake Washington, the path that passes the park with the
beach for dogs that like to chase thrown-things into the water. I promise to admire the
bugs crawling in your blooms. Please tell again stories about how Newfoundlands love
to swim.

Solar output from the panels is minimal. Drizzle, not rain. I’ll talk about my mother.
The sky does not lift. The purple asters I planted yesterday in a pot seem grateful. One
hickory leaf fell with the swirl of a feather. Milkweed pods prepare to split wide open.

We sit side by side. I could not have foreseen that in this morning’s mirror. You ask if
you should read Mary Oliver out loud to me. I hold your hand. I ask for Gluck.

too early for vespers
another lamp must be lit
before solstice

Tricia Knoll is a Vermont poet thrilled to be coming out of this strange Vermont winter. She welcomes poetry collection #8 Wild Apples (Fernwood Press, released February 2024) about her 3,003 mile move from Oregon to Vermont along with downsizing and welcoming two grandsons. Collection #9 is The Unknown Daughter (Finishing Line Press, March 2024), a chapbook of 24 poems related to a fictional Tomb of the Unknown Daughter–each poem told by a different character who knows of the monument or the people involved. Part feminist history, part autobiography, and part fantasy. Website: triciaknoll.com