Amanda McGuire

Valentine's Day

As the delivered tiger lilies yawn into blossom, I stretch like
an awakened cat, and answer the good phone silence that
follows your questions: "Tell me about your day; what
did you do?" Before: the failure of love—calling phone
numbers on bar napkins, listening to the dial tone
recording. Finally, I am ready to let the soft animal of my
body love what it loves when I hold the triangle of your
cheeks and chin, not long enough, on Main Street's curb. I
imagine my tongue as a feline's tail, curling against its body
(the inside of your mouth), safe enough to sleep in this spot.

Italicized words from Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese"

(Editor's Note:  Amanda's "Resolution/Blur" was scheduled to appear in the Spring/Summer 2007 Issue of 27 but we decided it was perfect for our Special Issue instead:  this is meant to explain her being included in this issue without having been an official previous contributor)

Amanda's "Resolution/Blur" is the featured poem in this issue