Lynn Hoggard

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I Wish

(a Dorsimbra)

I wish I had the wisdom to be free—
to rise within my mind to other realms,
to try out other ways that I could be
until my new self starts to overwhelm

all my limitations,
all the fears
of fleeting moments
given me,

then I would dance and sing, my arms spread wide,
my pencil tracing magic in the sky
to show how ecstasy will help us soar—
I wish I had the wisdom to be free.

Lynn Hoggard received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Southern California and taught at Midwestern State University, where she was professor of English and French and the coordinator of humanities. In 2003, the Texas Institute of Letters awarded her the Soeurette Diehl Fraser award for best translation. Her books, Bushwhacking Home (TCU Press, 2017), and First Light (Lamar University Press, 2022) won, respectively, the 2018 and the 2023 Press Women of Texas awards for best book of poetry.