Nicolette Reim
22 Across
the clue in the crossword puzzle is
"Giving to a younger generation"
in eight empty, white squares
I write "pass down"
pause as the pencil turns lead-heavy
from graphite lightness
I don't know if it's the word "generation"
"pass down" or maybe "younger"
looking back now takes more time
than looking forward
the pigeons dawdling by small puddles
always seem the same.
Bio
Nicolette Reim is a poet, artist, and translator published in Glint Literary Journal, Pirene's Fountain, Pittsburgh Poetry Review and other publications, wwwtheartsection, and recent anthologies Border Lines, Poems of Migration, and Rumors Secrets & Lies - Pregnancy, Abortion & Choice. She studied art at The New York Studio School, holds an MFA in poetry from Drew University and exhibits abstractions of longhand and topography in NoHoM55 Gallery, NYC. She lives/works in NYC/Atlanta, GA.