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New Writing

We spent them wisely, walking street fairs
off Times Square, wreathed in the righteous
scent of empanadas and roasted

corn. And under the grey
benediction of smoke
we managed to keep mad busy

in the vast erasures of televised
dramas whose sound might be muted
the moment tracers flashed on.

Later we’d gather simply
around farmhouse tables
where we sipped housemade

vodka and herb-infused elixirs.
It was easy to get distracted
by the more sophisticated stuff

coming from the back kitchen
outrage upstaged by a plate of sugar
snap peas. Upbeat hip hop

spooled on a soundtrack
amateurish and understudied
in our knowledge of explosive

delivery methods, concerted
efforts and sweeps. We learned
to breeze through security

checkpoints, secure
chocolate, books, even cell
phone minutes, amusing the wine

drinking patrons in the means
we used to dispel the gloom, in
the means we selected

to signify our support
with protest now no longer
our go-to for gravitas.

We spent them. Kept
our own counsel in the row
of graves, in the dreary

house party under the roiling
shadow of fog and the flag.

JANE SATTERFIELD is 48 and lives in Baltimore, USA, though she was born in the UK and visits frequently (she gave birth to her daughter in Stoke-on-Trent). She teaches creative writing and has published a memoir – Daughters of Empire: A Memoir of a Year in Britain and Beyond (Demeter Press, 2009) – and two poetry collections – Assignation at Vanishing Point (Elixir, 2003) and Shepherdess with an Automatic (WWPH, 2000). She writes for between 10 and 12 hours a week, often in her local coffee shop. Being married to a writer is a ‘big plus’, she says.

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