STIRRING
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
RYAN BURGESS
Mother as a beauty box
Mother as a can of coke
Mother as a wrong turn
Mother gripping leather fast to Oklahoma
Mother a fallen white bloom
Mother slouching against a peeling wall
A parking spot for new mothers
In newness, antithesis
Wait for the teeth then tell me
Dog sighs inside the punctured box
Are we having a lived experience
Or does form match fury
Does the fury of mother show up later in the brow
Does the brow curdle and curl into the bowel
Mother as matchstick, motherflamed
Outside I clip the larger hydrangeas.
The ones so heavy
with flowers and water their heads hang to the ground.
Ryan Burgess’ poetry has appeared in New Orleans Review, Yes Poetry, Wreck Park, Xavier Review, Heron Tree, Cannibal, and Otis Nebula among other publications. Her essay “Ashley and I,” originally published in Under the Gum Tree, was mentioned as a Notable Essay in The Best American Essays 2015 edited by Ariel Levy. Originally from Arkansas with years spent in New Orleans, she now lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she writes and teaches high school English.
