Lethe in New Ulm with the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus
I had taken back roads in getting there.
I had waited for trains, patiently.
By the time I arrived, they were past
their midday break and onto
their first of two spiritual readings.
I didn’t want to interrupt. I had nothing
to say, honestly. An hour earlier
I had been at your grave leaving
flowers. You should know
they’ve taken down the fence
that served as boundary between
you and the fields.
I had waited for trains, patiently.
By the time I arrived, they were past
their midday break and onto
their first of two spiritual readings.
I didn’t want to interrupt. I had nothing
to say, honestly. An hour earlier
I had been at your grave leaving
flowers. You should know
they’ve taken down the fence
that served as boundary between
you and the fields.
Spring 2026
Kelly R. Samuels is the author of two poetry collections and four chapbooks—the most recent Oblivescence (Red Sweater Press, 2024) and Talking to Alice (Whittle Micro-Press, 2023.) She is a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee with work appearing in River Styx, The Massachusetts Review, Denver Quarterly, december, and Faultline. She lives in the Upper Midwest.
Art: Pamela Hobart Carter
While We Listen, 2025
An any-side-up, ink, pastel, and acrylic on (cheap) paper
While We Listen, 2025
An any-side-up, ink, pastel, and acrylic on (cheap) paper