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YOUR CART

Melissa McKinstry ​

Doing the Math

​Here  we  are,  paralyzed  by  despair,  stunned  by the sum
of   headlines,   considering   what   natural   habitat,  wine,
mystery,   or   music   might   imprison  our  fear  or  dolor
in  an  empty  set.  Then   we  might  graph  the  amplitude
of   the   good   mind,   look   again    for    elephant    seals
near Cambria, the haystack rock rising from Morro Bay, or
capes   of   monarchs   draped   at   Pismo  Beach:  the  little
eucalyptus  grove  layered  in velvet  until  the sun heats  up
like  higher  order  exponents,  and  orange  orange  orange
wings slip like  an  abacus  from  staid  humility  to  full  fan
and float. Palominos appear, ghost the trail to the long, open
beach, shimmer the  surface  of  tea  poured  from  a  faithful
thermos.  Suddenly,  the  cup  is  wings  and  hooves,  clouds
and  leaves,  and  we  whisper  esperanza  as  trees  take flight.

Sept / Oct  2023
Melissa McKinstry
Melissa McKinstry holds an MFA in poetry from Pacific University. Her poems appear in Rattle, Alaska Quarterly Review, Rust & Moth, december, Tahoma Literary Review, SWWIM, Nimrod International, Beloit Poetry Journal, and other journals. She’s been nominated for Best New Poets, Best of the Net, a Pushcart Prize, and Orison’s Best Spiritual Literature. In collaboration with her designer husband, she curates a community Poet Tree in San Diego.
Art: Cam Pietralunga. Saturday Morning at the Corner Store. Acrylic on canvas. 
  
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