{"id":13703,"date":"2019-05-20T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-20T13:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/three-poems-by-cl-bledsoe\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T10:18:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T15:18:52","slug":"three-poems-by-cl-bledsoe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2019\/05\/20\/three-poems-by-cl-bledsoe\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Poems by CL Bledsoe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links is-content-justification-right is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-765c4724 wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-facebook  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61556140010887\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n<li class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-instagram  wp-block-social-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/boudin_mcneese\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12,4.622c2.403,0,2.688,0.009,3.637,0.052c0.877,0.04,1.354,0.187,1.671,0.31c0.42,0.163,0.72,0.358,1.035,0.673 c0.315,0.315,0.51,0.615,0.673,1.035c0.123,0.317,0.27,0.794,0.31,1.671c0.043,0.949,0.052,1.234,0.052,3.637 s-0.009,2.688-0.052,3.637c-0.04,0.877-0.187,1.354-0.31,1.671c-0.163,0.42-0.358,0.72-0.673,1.035 c-0.315,0.315-0.615,0.51-1.035,0.673c-0.317,0.123-0.794,0.27-1.671,0.31c-0.949,0.043-1.233,0.052-3.637,0.052 s-2.688-0.009-3.637-0.052c-0.877-0.04-1.354-0.187-1.671-0.31c-0.42-0.163-0.72-0.358-1.035-0.673 c-0.315-0.315-0.51-0.615-0.673-1.035c-0.123-0.317-0.27-0.794-0.31-1.671C4.631,14.688,4.622,14.403,4.622,12 s0.009-2.688,0.052-3.637c0.04-0.877,0.187-1.354,0.31-1.671c0.163-0.42,0.358-0.72,0.673-1.035 c0.315-0.315,0.615-0.51,1.035-0.673c0.317-0.123,0.794-0.27,1.671-0.31C9.312,4.631,9.597,4.622,12,4.622 M12,3 C9.556,3,9.249,3.01,8.289,3.054C7.331,3.098,6.677,3.25,6.105,3.472C5.513,3.702,5.011,4.01,4.511,4.511 c-0.5,0.5-0.808,1.002-1.038,1.594C3.25,6.677,3.098,7.331,3.054,8.289C3.01,9.249,3,9.556,3,12c0,2.444,0.01,2.751,0.054,3.711 c0.044,0.958,0.196,1.612,0.418,2.185c0.23,0.592,0.538,1.094,1.038,1.594c0.5,0.5,1.002,0.808,1.594,1.038 c0.572,0.222,1.227,0.375,2.185,0.418C9.249,20.99,9.556,21,12,21s2.751-0.01,3.711-0.054c0.958-0.044,1.612-0.196,2.185-0.418 c0.592-0.23,1.094-0.538,1.594-1.038c0.5-0.5,0.808-1.002,1.038-1.594c0.222-0.572,0.375-1.227,0.418-2.185 C20.99,14.751,21,14.444,21,12s-0.01-2.751-0.054-3.711c-0.044-0.958-0.196-1.612-0.418-2.185c-0.23-0.592-0.538-1.094-1.038-1.594 c-0.5-0.5-1.002-0.808-1.594-1.038c-0.572-0.222-1.227-0.375-2.185-0.418C14.751,3.01,14.444,3,12,3L12,3z M12,7.378 c-2.552,0-4.622,2.069-4.622,4.622S9.448,16.622,12,16.622s4.622-2.069,4.622-4.622S14.552,7.378,12,7.378z M12,15 c-1.657,0-3-1.343-3-3s1.343-3,3-3s3,1.343,3,3S13.657,15,12,15z M16.804,6.116c-0.596,0-1.08,0.484-1.08,1.08 s0.484,1.08,1.08,1.08c0.596,0,1.08-0.484,1.08-1.08S17.401,6.116,16.804,6.116z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Instagram<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>CL Bledsoe<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>My Brother Is Getting Old<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I wanted to ask what stole the brown<br>from his beard, painted his thinning<br>hair gray, stooped him over when he tries<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">to stand? Was it the same bastard who<br>stole my spare time and made my knees<br>hurt? But he always wants to talk<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">when I call so I don\u2019t. I told Barbara<br>about it at the coffee shop, said I\u2019m dull<br>and old but my heart is busy. I practiced<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">the line for fifteen minutes but she wouldn\u2019t<br>stop crying after they called her name.<br>I finally asked her what was wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">She said just being a woman. We were walking<br>away, then, a line of eyes a few feet<br>behind us. It must be hard to be invisible<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">but always stared at, I said, but the light<br>had changed. She had already crossed. I<br>was alone and heading the wrong way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Rice Field<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<div style=\"height:100px;width:123px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer wp-container-content-23d2426f\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:18px\"><em>after Wallace Stevens<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">1. The levees are low walls. I stepped<br>over, but I still see mud<br>in my tracks all these years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">2. Dragonflies hover over the feast,<br>like the helicopter Uncle Wheelbarrow stole,<br>set down in a rice field drunk<br>and hurting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">3. It\u2019s not water; it\u2019s the sweat<br>of generations from which grows<br>a momentary cessation of the banker\u2019s hostility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">4. A soft smell something like sweet<br>straw and mud,<br>a mother\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">5. Driving to college on a lonely highway,<br>levees race to catch up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">6. Blackbirds laugh from power lines<br>by the road as we trudge into the mud,<br>half-a-dozen spills and a shovel<br>on our shoulders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">7. Up on the high dirt road, somebody\u2019s<br>truck eases to a stop to wait until we\u2019re done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">8. My father took my fianc\u00e9 on a tour of the rice<br>fields and told her, \u201cDidn\u2019t know<br>you were marrying into landed gentry,<br>did you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">9. The wind pushes flames across<br>the stubbled dirt. I watch<br>from the road, yearning for something<br>I can\u2019t name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">10. Weeds grow inside an old farmhouse.<br>A rusted bedframe just visible<br>through the window hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">11. When mom got too sick to stay home,<br>they put her in a nursing home built where<br>we used to farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">12. Dad would wade out with a shoulder<br>full of spills and a shovel in a hundred degree<br>heat, patch the levees that needed it and cut<br>others, then back at the truck, down<br>a Budweiser like it was water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">13. Mosquitoes nudge ears, nose, mouth,<br>the wind\u2019s reminder: yes, there is life in us,<br>if only we can get it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>Seining<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">It\u2019ll suck you in if you slow<br>down. Each step, a throaty<br>release of rubber coming free<br>of deep mud. A line of men pulling<br>a net across the darkness<br>to gather catfish, buffalo fish.<br>Toss the mudcats on the shore<br>where the dumpgulls wait.<br>I was afraid if I stepped in,<br>I\u2019d never get free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">CL Bledsoe\u2019s most recent poetry collections are <em>Trashcans in Love<\/em> and <em>The King of Loneliness<\/em>. His most recently short story collection is <em>The Shower Fixture Played the Blues<\/em>. He lives in northern Virginia, with his daughter, and blogs, with Michael Gushue, and <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@howtoeven\">https:\/\/medium.com\/@howtoeven<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>__________<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"438\" height=\"211\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1.jpg 438w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/01\/boudin-logo-1-300x145.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 438px) 100vw, 438px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">&lt;&lt; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2019\/05\/02\/an-afternoon-is-a-test-of-faith-and-i-am-gone-again-by-e-kristin-anderson\/\">Back<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2019\/05\/09\/two-poems-by-micki-blenkush\/\">Next<\/a> &gt;&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">To learn more about submitting your work to <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/boudin-submissions\/\">Boudin<\/a><\/em> or applying to McNeese State University&#8217;s Creative Writing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/mfa-application-submissions\/\">MFA program<\/a>, please visit Submissions for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CL Bledsoe __________ My Brother Is Getting Old I wanted to ask what stole the brownfrom his beard, painted his thinninghair gray, stooped him over when he tries to stand? Was it the same bastard whostole my spare time and made my kneeshurt? But he always wants to talk when I call so I don\u2019t.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[253,17],"tags":[72,18],"class_list":["post-13703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boudin-2019-spring-edition","category-poetry","tag-clbledsoe","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13703"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22552,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13703\/revisions\/22552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}