Daneen Wardrop

Early morning claymation of birds clogging the backyard, low gargle of mourning dove– Trees are vaults to fit into an easy second, they pass us in swells of untightening. Touch for us, wandering for them: an eye unclutches. Inside the vacant TV screen an arm raises against– How it turns into a rip before it […]

At Gray Ghost, West Point, I’m shut upstairs where Maggie Lunty locks me in her bedroom with her, says she’ll never allow me to leave, will keep me there beyond Christmas, beyond when we go to fourth grade, when she gets married. She fields me when I lean toward the door, blocks me when I […]

Descending to the airstrip on post, the Colonel flies the fighter low enough to rattle desktops in the school below,   signals to his daughter in the classroom.   She knows it’s hi, see you at home, spare ribs for dinner,   tilt of wings to clatter pencils and chalk, teacher trying to explain continents […]