Minnesota Poetry: Ann Iverson’s “War”
Ann Iverson is a visual artist and poet who has worked in education for years. She's a member of the Laurel Poetry Collective, and her work has appeared in more than 20 print and online journals and literary magazines. She is the author of two collections of poetry: Come Now to the Window (Laurel Poetry Collective) and Definite Space (Holy Cow! Press), which was written in response to the events of 9/11 and her son's subsequent deployments to Iraq. Definite Space was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award and the Pushcart Prize in 2008. Iverson is a resident of East Bethel, Minnesota.
War
At lunch, people talk about it
here and there
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between the weather
and their tuna sandwiches.
Between all the other losses
never mentioned
over Caesar salad
or beef stroganoff
or on an elevator
too slow
for its own good.
Speeding down County Road 18,
pouring rain, I saw light
beyond the clouds.
I talked to your image
rising from the mist
as though you make it through,
finding the solid truth
of God and blue sky.
- "War" by Ann Iverson, from her book Definite Space, published by Holy Cow! Press. Reprinted here with permission from the publisher.