She Lives in my Fingers (for my poetry teacher Dorothea Bisbas, 1932-2025) May 16, 2025

decanting each pen into

a poem, I learned from you

how to write the language

of lucidity and feeling

not one or the other

but both, and lay it down

like a map, helping guide

a mind to a heart

and if lucky

transform a bit of ink

into a moment that makes

the reader feel as if a

hummingbird is licking their finger

or a memory beckons with open arms

or the sun has split through

a storm to say - you’re not alone

Dorothea – thank you for teaching me

how to launch the intimacy of words

into a world, desperate to be

surprised by love