POEMS
Queen of the Cut
Cable-stayed bridge, Tacoma, Washington
Night-gem, sun-brooch, sky-jewel.
A phantom ship––tall masted, cable-rigged.
Kandinsky bird in blue air.
Spare. Neat as a girl-queen
above the cut. Tacoma’s quarrel
with rust and rotten brick.
She reigns, angles of gleams,
smoke-daughter, penumbra
of Mount Tacoma. Snow-peaks
dream her tides, her white piers.
She wends her wheel-trail
through ribbons of light and steel.
—Priscilla Long
"Queen of the Cut" appeared in Stringtown (Fall 2007)
Journey
Shall I tuck a notebook
into your rucksack, a rum cake?
Will you take this gold coin
for luck or river-toll
or to pawn or to board
some rogue ship?
You say we will meet again.
You pour bitter dregs, drink
to our works and days.
I drink to your smoke eyes.
I drink to the worlds beyond
the world your fingertips trace
on our tabletop. Take my gold.
I will keep my tongue’s hoard.
I will dream, as if in pen and ink,
the creased map your face.
—Priscilla Long
"Journey" appeared in Facere Signs of Life Exhibition Catalog (Seattle: Facere Art Jewelry Gallery, 2005).
Copyright 2008 Priscilla Long, All Rights Reserved. Please do not quote or reproduce without permission.
Work Sample: Creative Nonfiction
Contact Me:PriscillaLong@comcast.net