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davenport iowa, shirley berman, & composite with nude

by Kelly Jensen

I. Davenport Iowa

laced between
Le Claire & Maquoketa
the river carved prairie crossroads
in pinstripes fell the corn rows

midwinter arbors & maywet fields
kneeled to their visitors

her city's energy channeled
on stained cathedral glass

imposing homes wear their mourning veils to sow her plains in repentance

II. Shirley Berman

she sculpted symmetries in
the skeletal garden,
drowned daisies in hymnal verse

bay window peripheries marveled
as she dissembled vegetation

the thickets followed, grasping

she wore a raincoat to drain
the poppies in her fingers

awnings envious
of her well-placed brow

III. Composite with nude

haphazard lawns worship
limestone mausoleums
where asters once bloomed

earth recaptures her fleshy chest
& exposed skin
in opal pools she fizzles incomplete

01/01/2006

Author's Note: Not sure why the formatting isn't showing up right, but alas! This piece was featured as part of the University of Iowa's "Iowa Writes" program, which ran for two years and collected the voices of Iowa writers. The poem was inspired by the Teske photograph, which I think is the coolest photograph I've seen.

Posted on 03/03/2009
Copyright © 2025 Kelly Jensen

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