"Primary Fashion" by Kelly Emmrich
Two poems by Rachel Nix
Weathering
I grew up watching pine trees watch me, loyalty leaning
away from wind—kneeling only to give in. Never alone,
not then, as long as the trees stood near. Now: a woman
who won’t hold my hand, but begs me to stay in her bed;
she plies me with wine or whisky, knowing both tempt me.
I’m not convinced she sees me beyond curve of hip, reach
of wrap. I walk away, reflect and find my pines: fatigued
by season, and like the woman, never noticed my absence.
away from wind—kneeling only to give in. Never alone,
not then, as long as the trees stood near. Now: a woman
who won’t hold my hand, but begs me to stay in her bed;
she plies me with wine or whisky, knowing both tempt me.
I’m not convinced she sees me beyond curve of hip, reach
of wrap. I walk away, reflect and find my pines: fatigued
by season, and like the woman, never noticed my absence.
Not the Sea Horses
The eye doctor laughs at me when I say
I see sea horses. He calls them floaters
which sounds sillier but he doesn’t
make fun of my wandering eye
and instead tells me while in college
that was the sure-fire way to know
his buddy had too much to drink:
that left eye would just start easing off
in another direction, oblivious to
anything that mattered. I wonder if
it’s something I got from my father:
the lazy eye, not the sea horses.
He, too, had a way of wandering off
trying to see more than he should—
getting caught up in the blur of it all.
Rachel Nix is an editor for cahoodaloodaling, Hobo Camp Review and Screen Door Review. Her own work has appeared in Juke Joint, L'Éphémère Review, and Pidgeonholes. She resides in Northwest Alabama, where pine trees outnumber people rather nicely, and can be followed at @rachelnix_poet on Twitter.
Kelly Emmrich is an illustrator and animator living and working in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her work has appeared in the magazines Moonhood Magazine, Dream Noir, and Meat for Tea. She studied creative writing and animation at the University of Mary Washington. She is currently working as a beer label designer for a microbrewery in Afton, Virginia and also as a freelance animator and illustrator.
