{"id":16560,"date":"2024-04-30T15:43:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T20:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/?p=16560"},"modified":"2024-11-26T11:51:53","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T17:51:53","slug":"three-poems-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2024\/04\/30\/three-poems-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Poems"},"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-large-font-size\"><strong>Free<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Steven Ray Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">You were a baby on the day I met you,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">and also not, because you had lived<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">already, alone and for yourself already, somewhere<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">invisible to me that I could never visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">But because you didn\u2019t know how to hunt or to hide<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">from those hunting you, I created my love<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">for you by setting your place and waving my<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">stick at the many different teeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">that roam the nights. And I called to you<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">with the name I named you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As I go into the trees, the old ones and crowded saplings,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I\u2019m sure I hear your voice among the voices of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I say your name, and I say it again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">It sounds simply that I am inviting you back<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">to the safe table. But really, I am looking<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">into that place I did not know about you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">There is no name for it, other that it\u2019s your place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">When I call your name, I know I am calling<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">out a name that was always mine. And I hope<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">you know, your name is only the first of my two hopes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The second is that you love your own place<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">as much as me. Or to be honest, the reverse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Exotic<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Her tail was from a different story<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">than the airways between our trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Taillight red, bright at noon, bright at dusk,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">the tail startled us with its difference,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">so we felt it must have something to do with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Because our eyes tugged at its luminescence,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">we naturalized it in our vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">We brought her inside and looked at her<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">for twenty years and invited visitors to look at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">We gave her a purpose: to be looked at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Our eyes had never experienced a finer epitome<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">of the color red. And when she at last dropped off her perch,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">we saved her tail feathers and pinned them in a frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">But on the blank plate, we had no notion what to engrave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And that is when we realized the birdspeak,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">the distracting chatter \u2014 ungluable and unmountable \u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">had been her calling out her name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Parrot<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">My parrot does a lot of squawking<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">about the red hawk that impressed him<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">or scared him from a half-mile high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">He talks like the hawk all day,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">repeating its warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Sometimes I say to him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">you know, it\u2019s not the real you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">He\u2019s heard me say it enough, so he says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">you know, it\u2019s not the real you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I wish I believed I were a hawk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Dedication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I had Hopkins about 10 years ago but he flew off in December, leaving my other parrot (&#8220;Tully&#8221;) alone now. I need to find her a new companion because she is alone. I hope Hopkins has found his best life as a free bird. <\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/04\/Hopkins.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16647\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/04\/Hopkins.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/04\/Hopkins-300x300.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2024\/04\/Hopkins-150x150.jpeg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Steven Ray Smith<\/strong> is the author of <em>A Two Minute Forty Second Night <\/em>(FutureCycle Press, 2022). The book was shortlisted for the Steel Toe Book Award in 2020. His poetry has been published in <em>Verse Daily<\/em>, <em>The Yale Review<\/em>, <em>Southwest Review<\/em>, <em>The Kenyon Review<\/em>, <em>Barrow Street<\/em>, <em>Poet Lore<\/em>, <em>The Hollins Critic<\/em> and others. More information about his work can be found at <a href=\"http:\/\/stevenraysmith.com\/\">StevenRaySmith.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\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2024\/04\/30\/shapeshifter\/\"> Back<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/2024\/04\/30\/pre-obituary-for-a-rabbit\/\">Next <\/a><\/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\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Free Steven Ray Smith __________ You were a baby on the day I met you, and also not, because you had lived already, alone and for yourself already, somewhere invisible to me that I could never visit. But because you didn\u2019t know how to hunt or to hide from those hunting you, I created my&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[75,145],"class_list":["post-16560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boudin-april-24-pet","tag-boudin","tag-poetry-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16560","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\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16560"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18023,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16560\/revisions\/18023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}