for a.g.

the day will come
language cold as the ice
pelting winter panes
the sentences
will drift into
mountainous debris
and wreckage heaps
that require shovel
and slog
or springtime sun
to melt them away


© heather brager 2.3.2011

another winter day.

icy rhetoric

the air, a reverse vacuum

cutting a pale pelt

© heather brager 2.2.2011

(art by princesssfi via deviantart.com)

Rebuilding.

value need not be quantified

or serendipitous integrity justified, yet

as memories placate, seconds philandering

backward movement, chained close to the throat

and dna winding, haunting syllables resonate

parallel, out front and behind

a falsely advantageous structure of home, so

stones tumble with a glance, prospects lost and found

in a flashbulb burst, over-glorified

justification of perpendicular faults

as the fictitious foundations crumble

© 1.28.2011 heather brager

January in Minnesota.

gritty slush passes the ankles
a surge of wet indifference
thrusts of air through the cochlea
almost reminiscent of harmony

light filters cyclical malaise
monochromatic hues of white noise
dodging the slack and pulling taut
nearly reaching essential altitude

chinook winds press the western walls
a hasty recollection of salvation
foliage crawling under reconstruction
slow motion frames against the sky


© 1.17.2011 heather brager

Knowing.

I used to breathe
in counting one, lengthening
and filling starved lungs
out on three, freeing my flesh of demons
clinging to my cilia

I used to sleep
ceiling to floor, cradling unconscious worry
releasing the irreverence
etched across the walls of
my sodden, swollen eyelids

I used to draw
randomly flocking, fractions of souls
shine and longing within their eyes
liberating my fingers of fret
clutching empty transformation

I used to know
much less of the workings of my mind
of the valves of my mechanical heart
the rasping and weary
measurement of my broken stride


© 1.3.2011 heather brager




the river. original pencil drawing by heather brager. 2009.

she occasionally speaks in language

adjunct formations
using correct participles
indentations leading her
properly configured paragraphs
never ending a sentence with a preposition
or speaking without
proper articulation

and fluid pictures are found
covering the transparency

with remnants of childhood
patterns and textures of fabrics

tasting late season June berries
adhesive of one hundred holiday envelopes

narrow stairs creaking after midnight
the distant pack of wild coyotes

she occasionally thinks in thoughts

overwhelmed with nostalgia
in moments not yet had
reconstructing the pressure
of speaking digestible clarity
his eyes from across the crowded bar
and the tang of scotch and
soda on his lower lip




© 12.10.2010 heather brager

unmeasured.

our deep breaths
are sometimes months in the making
with time standing, stooping
cradling our hesitation and worry
with days striking, stretching,
urging our constant hurry

in various rooms, the vacuum
and tenderness the dust
on the uppermost shelf

we weave every feast
and sharpen our knives
mornings shove us out of doors
we are found, front and center
with our minds, wandering
fetching and cataloging
in particulars and sealing deals

with pleasure in hidden devils
for a moment of couched reprieve
and coveted, unmeasured relief


©11.18.2010 heather brager