Cachagua Road From the low bridge over the river you spoke,blue lupines rising silently beneath the oaks,weighed with the damp of evening.Your words were carried away downstream,lost to me. I felt a sadness,heavy as stones.I listen—bending of waterover rocks, wind in the armsof the trees. I’ve learned the voicesof the robin, the towhee,thrasher—useless except forthe [...]
RAINSONG What of this winter here?The unhappy song of rain andwind in the bay laurel,rainwater in the fountaina mixing of what is oursand what is not. I go to the meadowwhen the storm has slowedto see what has changed,what unknowable thirst was quenched: the howl and fury in the nightbrought down the tall sequoia,and with [...]
MOCKINGBIRD As it often doesmoving by memory,your body finds mine, fitspuzzled into angles and curvesin those hushed hours—were it not for the mockingbirdscreaming into the moonlit,slate-grey sky. I envy you,your unbothered sleep.No torment. No great,stirring voicein your mindscreaming,screaming. c. B. L. BruceFirst published by VisitantFollow Bruce on Instagram @thepoesis and Twitter @the_poesis
DARK STAR I had not expected, mid-life,that already my shining yearswould be behind me, tradedfor more essential things:what it meansto have patience,to wage a war,how to endure. I remember clearer now:the smooth dunes,bare shoulders,my body feeling somehowless bound, belongingto me. You came outof the sea—salt on skin.In a particular way,your face openedbeneath the midday sky.Those [...]
In Measures, B. L. Bruce’s third collection of poetry, the author deftly explores grief, loss, the visual measures of time, and the nature of change in her celebrated, nuanced verse. In this latest collection featuring nearly sixty new poems—including works in new formats like micropoetry and American haiku—award-winning poet B. L. Bruce again echoes the [...]
Throwback to my two poems, "The Leaving" and "Fragility," which appear in my award-winning collection The Weight of Snow, first published in The 2River View. THE LEAVING By the heavy glass doors,you kneel to gather scattered clothes,your naked silhouette a shadowagainst the violet dawn.I know this shape your body makesagainst the sky. A leaf falls [...]
I drop a glove in the puddle of rainwater,and bending to remove itsee the reflection of my mother's figure,see the levy of years--the unexpected wither of skinas if waking to seethat it has snowedovernight. c. B. L. Bruce From "At Henry Cowell State Park, Early Winter" from my award-winning collection "The Weight of Snow," first [...]
Life in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic got me thinking of the time I spent 28 days in a small cabin in the remote forests of Northern California. I wrote about my time there, reflecting on the writing process, in my short memoir "28 Days of Solitude." Check out the newly refreshed edition, available now [...]
Near Window is a zine exhibiting a view from behind the nearest window out onto the world beyond; or, a view inwards from the outside. I'm excited to have two of my photographs, "Blurred Row of Trees" and "White Duck" published in their latest issue.
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