[without a listener]

a voice speaks 

to rheumy stars

deadpan witness

no call and response

or supplicant's hope

all this hurts

the ocean suggests

as if waves

could privilege

ear's dumb gestures

or a ghost

of a sentence learn

to read its

own dried ink

Credit

Author

Maxine Chernoff

Maxine Chernoff was born on February 24, 1952, in Chicago and received her undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Chernoff is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry, including Here (Counterpath, 2014); Without (Shearsman, 2012); and To Be Read in the Dark (Omnidawn, 2011).

Date Published

09/08/2010