Read a Poem
The Golden Spaces
—after Lo Kwa Mei-en
By Katie Mertz
the wind makes use of me
how blood owns its animal:
a pretty way of saying I am grateful
you have given me the chance
to fail you miserably grateful
for the quiet spaces we have built
in a world so wounded
whose working titles all write
the poems black little ghosts
of a bleached reef how much heat
is too much heat
I call my houseplants
by their full names my hands
in their soil I think
if I stay here long enough
something will begin to heal
The Golden Spaces by Katie Mertz. Used by permission of the author.
About the Author
Katie Mertz is a 2015 graduate of the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts program, and the author of the chapbook Flower Poems (Frontier Slumber Press). Her past work has appeared in jubilat, Sixth Finch, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Poor Claudia, Birdfeast, and others. Nowadays she spends her time baking and filling garden beds with native plants. Her home is in Akron with her husband, Nick, their two cats, Tito and Finn, and newborn son, Myles.
Write a Poem
Choose one poem from this year's “Read + Write” and write a poem in response to it.
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