(At) Wrist

Tacey M. Atsitty melds inherited forms such as the sonnet with her Diné and religious experiences to boldly and beautifully reveal a love that can last for eternity. Celebrating and examining the depth and range of her relationships with men, Atsitty tenderly shares experiences of being taught to fish by her father, and, in other poems, reveals intimate moments of burgeoning romantic love with vulnerability and honesty. Grounded in a world both old and constantly remade, she reminds us that it is only by risking everything that we can receive more than we ever imagined.

All I know is it’s the season

when wind comes crying, like a baby

whose head knocks a pew during the passing

of the sacrament, that silence—

her long inhale filling with pain.

—Excerpt from “A February Snow”