Michelle Lerner

“House” by Michelle Lerner, a poem from her chapbook, Protection, released in July 2021, by The Poetry Box, has been nominated for The Pushcart Prize.

Please enjoy the poem, and feel free to leave a comment.

“House”

I am your tin house,
your cabin, your tent
and like a tiny nomad you travel with your yurt
on your back, wrapping around you
as you writhe like a bronco, bucking at the walls
my blood just the whisper
of wind as you stretch.

You do not know yet to be lonely
you do not know
what it means
to wait.

I am a house of spirits,
yours and mine.
You hiccup and I try
to hold you in, to hold you still
with my hand on the roof of your world.

And your father surrounds me
as I surround you,
he is my house
opens windows and doors
offers me his arms, offers me his back.
Sometimes he holds you at night,
his hand on my belly, cupped
around your foot, or fist
as you sleep unknowing,
his hands not really hands,
his voice just vibrations
of the air in the eaves
of your tin house, your tent,
this space that I have given you
this room of your own
to stretch into the world
creating
yourself
as we watch, wide-eyed, and wait.

The Poetry Box LIVE – June Edition

June 12, 2021@ 4:00 PM (Pacific) / 7:00 PM (Eastern)

Enjoy the video from the show:

June Featured Poets:

Michelle Lerner (New Jersey) – author of PROTECTION
Sue Fagalde Lick (Oregon) – author of THE WIDOW AT THE PIANO
Sherry Rind (Washington) — author of BETWEEN STATES OF MATTER

ABOUT THE POETS

Michelle Lerner is a recovering public interest lawyer and cat herder. She’s currently raising a magpie-like child while emerging from the depths of late-stage chronic Lyme Disease, writing songs on a shiny new guitar, and unsuccessfully trying to establish a disciplined schedule to work on her poetry and fiction.

She received an MFA in poetry from The New School and her poetry manuscripts have been selected as finalist for The Poetry Box^® Chapbook Prize and semifinalist for the 2018 Pamet River Prize and the 2020 Willow Run Poetry Book Award. Her individual poems have appeared in many journals and other fora, including VQR’s Instagram Series, Harvard Women’s Law Journal, Paterson Literary Review, Lips, Adanna, Knock, and Sixfold, as well as several anthologies.

Michelle recently became a writing mentor for We Are Not Numbers, a nonprofit that publishes the autobiographical stories of Palestinians living under occupation and in refugee camps. <wearenotnumbers.org>

Order Michelle’s book HERE

Having escaped the newspaper business in Silicon Valley, Sue Fagalde Lick now lives on the Oregon coast, where she writes, does the singer-songwriter thing, walks her dog, and talks to herself. Her day job—until her pastor reads this book and excommunicates her—is directing the church choir at Sacred Heart Church in Newport. This job requires her to play the piano, sing, and direct the choir at the same time, so God should forgive a few wrong notes.

A native San Josean who earned a degree in journalism so she could make a living, she earned her MFA in creative writing at Antioch University at the age of 51. Sue has published her poetry and prose in various literary journals and come in second in more contests than she can count. Her previous books of prose include Stories Grandma Never Told: Portuguese Women in California, Childless by Marriage, and Up Beaver Creek. Last year, she published her first poetry chapbook, Gravel Road Ahead, which tells the story of her journey with her late husband Fred through Alzheimer’s disease. She blogs at www.childlessbymarriage.com and www.unleashedinoregon.com. Visit her website at www.suelick.com.

Order Sue’s book HERE

Sherry Rind with Dog — Photograph by Jed Share

Granddaughter of immigrants, Sherry Rind takes her chances with poetry instead of crossing the Atlantic with a few biscochos by way of kosher food. She published her first poems when still in college. Earning her BA in a recession, she decided the only solution was to return to school, working as a teaching assistant and earning her MA in advanced writing. She taught writing at community colleges and for arts commissions, and worked in development and at miscellaneous other jobs, as writer do.

She received grants and awards from the Seattle and King County Arts Commissions, Pacific Northwest Writers, National Endowment for the Arts, and Artist Trust. She edited two books about Airedale terriers and published numerous articles about parrots. She has published two chapbooks, The Whooping Crane Dance and A Natural History of Grief, runner-up for the Quentin R. Howard Chapbook Prize. Her books are The Hawk in the Back Yard, winner of the Anhinga award and published by Anhinga Press, and A Fall Out the Door, winner of the King County Arts Commission Publication Award and published by Confluence Press. She has always lived with multiple animals and knows she is one.

Order Sherry’s book HERE

“House” by Michelle Lerner

“House”