{"id":13744,"date":"2020-05-20T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-20T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/two-poems-by-adam-tavel\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T12:28:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T17:28:51","slug":"two-poems-by-adam-tavel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2020\/05\/20\/two-poems-by-adam-tavel\/","title":{"rendered":"Nightie &amp; Skull Winter"},"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>Adam Tavel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>Nightie<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">edamame green and lace the last<br>August breeze blew through it<br>like a windsock the idle rich soar<br>above their beachfront cottage to say<br>look even the air we own that too<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">at twelve I was old enough to want it<br>against my cheek but didn\u2019t nor did I<br>want to see it on my friend\u2019s<br>sister\u2019s college body that most<br>humdrum of boyhood fantasies<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">no what I wanted was an improbable<br>lingered flapping on the clothesline<br>past supper past our bruising vacant<br>lot touchdowns at sundown to glance<br>from my window hued by star-frost<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">and find it there still knuckled<br>by wooden pins long after the men<br>of Spring Branch Drive in weariness<br>drove home greasy hungry ready<br>to yell away another muggy dusk<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I wanted the dishwasher bones<br>of his mother\u2019s hands to drape it<br>on the porch so I could tiptoe nervously<br>in dew to clip it high and rightful for<br>our crooked hours left to stun the moon<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>Skull Winter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The hill we called a mountain froze<br>a sheer sheet the blizzard\u2019s second day<br>when wind blew powdery beards<br>on maple trunks. Panting to the top<br>in pity boots that almost fit I smirked<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">each time I caught a glimpse beyond<br>of our school convent, desolate<br>as a dead calf\u2019s barn stall,<br>where those bitter sisters were left<br>to scold themselves. My older cousins<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">squealed, zipping down in puffs of ice<br>so far below at times I couldn\u2019t tell<br>who among us steered so brazenly<br>toward the apple tree, just to jerk<br>before the crash, then roll, crunching<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">to a stop. Heaving, they each laid<br>puffy as a sleeping bag, the remnant<br>storm whipping red cheeks redder.<br>The rusty sled that fell to me<br>would hardly turn. Baling twine<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">mottled as oatmeal soaked up slush,<br>slackening around planks as hours<br>wore on, until at last I aimed<br>my crossbow peak at branches<br>and lurched. I wish when I awoke<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I was glad to see the faces<br>of kin encircling me, teary<br>and relieved, a sky featureless<br>as slate and the boyish glory<br>of a sled in splinters. But I shut<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">my eyes again to the commands<br>to count their show of hands, aching<br>with a strange new grief I was<br>called back from the silence there<br>inside the bark, ringed and endless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Adam Tavel\u2019s<\/strong> third poetry collection, <em>Catafalque<\/em>, won the Richard Wilbur Award (University of Evansville Press, 2018). You can find him online at <a href=\"http:\/\/adamtavel.com\/\">http:\/\/adamtavel.com\/<\/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\/2020\/05\/15\/two-poems-by-kimberly-ann-southwick\/\">Back<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2020\/06\/10\/two-poems-by-stephanie-athena-valente\/\">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\n\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adam Tavel __________ Nightie edamame green and lace the lastAugust breeze blew through itlike a windsock the idle rich soarabove their beachfront cottage to saylook even the air we own that too at twelve I was old enough to want itagainst my cheek but didn\u2019t nor did Iwant to see it on my friend\u2019ssister\u2019s college&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[252,17],"tags":[94,75,77,18],"class_list":["post-13744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boudin-2020","category-poetry","tag-adamtavel","tag-boudin","tag-mcneesereview","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744","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=13744"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22357,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13744\/revisions\/22357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}