“Spread Love like Mustard”
Spread love like mustard
on a reality sandwich,
Lay it on thick and strong.
Slice time in thin layered segments,
press those moments together
Sweet and sour, tart and spicy
Raspberry preserve minutes on
Sauerkraut days.
Consume all at once or pull off
the bits we like best: Relish them.
Crunch through each delicious layer.
Let each bite fill us, make us whole.
*inspired by a FB post on May 1st, 2018 from Kisha Nicole Foster.
“Flight”
A shadow flock of birds sails
against the sky, black silhouettes
against cutout paper clouds, swarming,
dancing in air like ebony fish performing
ballet in their small glass stage,
promenades and pirouettes
choreographed against twilight
backdrop lives.
* image courtesy of PublicDomainPictures.Net
**poem inspired by the Cuyahoga Library writing prompt on April 26th, 2018 for National Poetry Month.
Blood Work by Kisha Nicole Foster is a thoughtful, moving collection of verse from one of Cleveland’s many great poets. Since her first collection was published, her style has evolved to become more visual, more elegant–relying less heavily on sound and more on the written form. Metaphors rather than multiple rhymes.
These are poems about family: specifically her father and son. However, the loss and regret felt over interactions with family are universal and relatable. The visceral connections of blood are used, as the title implies, as well as other metaphors. For example, she speaks about wooden roller coasters in both “Wooden Siamese Cats” and “I Smiled Back.”
[from “Wooden Siamese Cats”]
A wooden roller coaster
you and I
looping through air.
An unauthorized aerial act
of understanding.
She also references testimony in “Forcing Smiles” and (again) “I Smiled Back”, two complimentary poems placed next to each other in the collection.
[from “Forcing Smiles”]
you said whether you lived or died
you would be testimony
and
[from “I Smiled Back”]
When we talked on the phone,
he told me that this thing was life or death.
That if he lived he was going to be a testimony
and if he died he was going to be a testimony.
I wanted to overlook the death part.
I didn’t really need those words in my ears.
The shared use of key words and images makes the entire collection stronger. All the poems are so connected, each one feels like part of a larger narrative. Her streamlined approach uses straight forward language to eloquently convey deeply felt emotions. I know I felt emotional reading her words, especially the ones about her father, since it connected me to my own father’s loss a couple years ago. It’s beautiful.
So if you are a fellow poetry lover, I suggest you get this book immediately. If you are lucky enough to live in the Cleveland area, you can purchase it from Kisha Nicole Foster directly at a poetry event; otherwise, you can contact her through her FaceBook page. I’m sure you will enjoy these verses as much as I did.
