Three Poems
by Rikki Santer
CUSTODY
I’m trying to swallow light
sort major from minor
invite people over for supper
pause to relish vibration
Persian kneading my chest
jouissance dripping into
my thirsty cup
hoofbeats in my ear
Moonlight on a cheek
never precise enough
even when my Fiat rumbles
through the rainbow
that bends down
to a wet road
tenderness thrills
alertness unfastens
what tunnels under rocks
yet deceit in summary
Who had first thought
first nod
first murmur
sometimes we are simpering wounds
sometimes prayer
the sugar and salt of memory
our remainder goods
Chiffon logic
dresses the question
gestures in the right direction
nights of the planets
seasons fusing
into one another
good luck amulets declaring
skin’s thin veil
to balance on the ledge
where quicksilver parts yearn
to corkscrew towards whole
Dreams free me of time
winds anchor me
to moment
the in & out of
persistent chatter
secret winks
what to read
in the waiting room
how much can
an answering machine
really answer
stains
that forever stain
no days back
Ancient mercies linger
timeworn libraries
of martyrs
tardy redeemers
words cling to doorposts
that give up nothing
but dust
restless whorls of breath
from believers
stories within
stories
no way
to know
denouement
one minute breeds
another.
ROCK AND REDEEMER
In the dream of the world, a pasture
of blushing sand froths in ebb and flow.
Suspended megaliths like sentinels
ship their shadows across landscape
in majesty of infinite progression.
Praise sky that holds clouds like soft flour.
Praise melody of silence and sunlight.
Praise faith that defies gravity
our most ancient language.
SOUTINE LOGISTICS
The main reason I bought so many of his paintings
was that they were a surprise, if not a shock,
and I wanted to find out how he got that way.
-Albert C. Barnes, art collector,
on painter Chaïm Soutine (1893-1943)
His canvases thaw right before our eyes, ocher into
vermillion, umber into sienna, mixtapes of blood
and guts and flesh. We pay and repay attention
to tumbling mounds of buildings and trees contorted,
landscapes churning with angst. As if Jacob’s angel
was pickaxed by impasto. Double outsider, shtetl rayfish
with anguished wings, truth sayer pronouncing
distortion. In portraits, mismatched eyes pause servitude.
In still lifes warrens of Yiddish ulcerate. Plucked goose,
strung pheasants and hares, cows splayed and rendered,
all polestars of slaughter. Near his end, horse and donkey
heads bowed with exhaustion, muffled cries in their
throats. Valorize this reticent Jew, ram tangled in thicket,
life and death shape-shifter schmeared with savior paint.
Rikki Santer’s poetry has been published widely and has received many honors including several Pushcart and Ohioana book award nominations, a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2023 she was named Ohio Poet of the Year.
She is a member of the teaching artist roster of the Ohio Arts Council and former vice-president of the Ohio Poetry Association. Her collection, Resurrection Letter was grand prize short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and her forthcoming collection, Shepherd’s Hour, won the Paul Nemser Book Prize from Lily Poetry Review Books. Please contact her through her website, https://rikkisanter.com.
COLD SIGNAL 