Nicolette Reim
Morning and Jane Eyre
below my window a ginkgo tree is poised to shed
its flame-colored foliage all at once
the cover of an old copy of Jane Eyre is embossed in gold
over a green etching of girls in pairs
walking side by side, downcast eyes
one girl has eyes wide open—like mine
as I near the part I read as a child
the mad wife locked upstairs breaks out to leap
from the manse she set on fire
if I keep reading, she will shatter one more time
the daily paper tossed on the stoop
stories of falling over and over again
I fold the news, shut the book
suspend unhappiness midair.
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.