{"id":20670,"date":"2025-09-28T20:44:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T01:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/?p=20670"},"modified":"2025-09-30T17:39:48","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T22:39:48","slug":"thin-leaf-blueprints-for-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/thin-leaf-blueprints-for-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Thin Leaf &amp; Blueprints for 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>Eivind E. Olsen<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>Thin Leaf<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">On a winter day, much like a day in fall<br>except the trees are bare, I find a leaf<br>blown up from the yard, thin as a thumbprint<br>and slightly larger than my own.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Its brown skin is cracked and translucent:<br>a ghost against a stone step;<br>or a child\u2019s handprint on a window<br>only seen when the sun shines in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">But it\u2019s not like a child at all,<br>not even the shadow of one,<br>it\u2019s pale and starved with veins mere ribs<br>like a cage holding only the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I\u2019m afraid my touch will break bones<br>or that photons will shatter its skin<br>but the leaf imprints the sky<br>like a full moon in daylight<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">when I lift it. <em>It\u2019s only a leaf<\/em>,<br>I tell myself and yet I save it<br>on a shelf like change<br>that I forget about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">One spring day it is swept off<br>by a draught, and with nothing to resist<br>still floats down between my feet and asks,<br><em>Will you hold me to the sun again?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">As I raise it overhead once more<br>it overlays a tree in pink bloom<br>in my yard, and in a flash<br>shows me one stranger\u2019s suffering<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">and wilts to ash that coats my thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:25px\"><strong>Blueprints for Winter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A thin day-moon on a blue sheet sky<br>is loss: its flesh held in memory<br>and earth packed winter hard<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">around a tombstone with epitaph:<br><em>Because every day was too short, he stretched them,<\/em><br><em>raced them, until one day he passed them by.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And the sunglow in windows across a lake<br>are sunglasses tilted on his head<br>atop shoulders becoming arms becoming hands<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">gripping oars that pull across the lake, past oaks<br>and elms that now are bare trophies of themselves<br>with shadows cast long in a spotlight\u2019s glare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And crows in their crowns are dust motes<br>on a shelf, or coal splintered off a pencil\u2019s tip <br>sharpened to draw the stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A thin day-moon on a blue sheet sky<br>is life: its flesh in the womb<br>and expectation pegged to a line<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">as a white embroidered gown, handed down,<br>and aired out by a grandmother months before<br>who simply knows it\u2019s a perfect fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And the sunglow in windows across a lake<br>are stained glass murals along a nave, and a font<br>by the altar a tiny version of it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">where parents, an uncle and an aunt<br>stand proud as solemn oaks and elms<br>with sunlight spilling from their youthful faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And crows in their crowns are hairs made static<br>by a bonnet, or coal splintered off a pencil\u2019s tip<br>sharpened to draw the stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A thin day-moon on a blue sheet sky<br>is hope: its flesh hung in between<br>a summer dress and hospital gown,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">one picked down fresh for an operation<br>and pulled over head before the patient<br>is slid under surgical lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And the sunglow in windows across a lake<br>are shards of a broken vase, pebbled and thread<br>to a rosary, circled endlessly<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">as the path around the lake, past oaks<br>and elms that are candelabra of themselves<br>in the space of days growing brighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And crows in their crowns are the candles lit<br>or coal splintered off a pencil\u2019s tip<br>sharpened to draw the stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">__________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Eivind E. Olsen<\/strong> is a poet from Stavanger, Norway, who spent several years in Texas growing up, and an MA student in Creative Writing at Lancaster University working on his first chapbook. He writes in English and Norwegian. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in <em>The Dewdrop<\/em>, <em>Cathexis Northwest Press<\/em> and an anthology to be published by Tupelo Press.<\/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\/heard-and-not-heard-at-my-grandmothers-wake\/\">Back<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/seasonal-kaleidoscopes\/\">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>Eivind E. Olsen __________ Thin Leaf On a winter day, much like a day in fallexcept the trees are bare, I find a leafblown up from the yard, thin as a thumbprintand slightly larger than my own.&nbsp; Its brown skin is cracked and translucent:a ghost against a stone step;or a child\u2019s handprint on a windowonly&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[238],"tags":[75,145,18],"class_list":["post-20670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kaleidoscopes-sep-25","tag-boudin","tag-poetry-2","tag-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20670","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=20670"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20984,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20670\/revisions\/20984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mcneese.edu\/thereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}