Diane Raptosh
The Present
I like to lie on my back in this room to rebecome
liquid. Element. Metals of Earth. Doing so
evens things out to a line. Here riffs my dad--
dashed in from death—blaring his horn section’s light
like stripes inside stone. I like to stretch out
my berm and try being everywhere: This more or less
leaves me unborn. To practice how rivers
swim in themselves, merging new tongues. These days
the wherever of me I thought I was
is no longer Diane. Thin air worlds its breathing:
Is the body with? What rifts in your blood? We are here
in a room still finding itself. I want to say all of it
wades into oneness through unlit nights of each day.
In the agreed upon evening of things you can name me.
liquid. Element. Metals of Earth. Doing so
evens things out to a line. Here riffs my dad--
dashed in from death—blaring his horn section’s light
like stripes inside stone. I like to stretch out
my berm and try being everywhere: This more or less
leaves me unborn. To practice how rivers
swim in themselves, merging new tongues. These days
the wherever of me I thought I was
is no longer Diane. Thin air worlds its breathing:
Is the body with? What rifts in your blood? We are here
in a room still finding itself. I want to say all of it
wades into oneness through unlit nights of each day.
In the agreed upon evening of things you can name me.
How Much, How Many, What
--
Diane Raptosh’s collection American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press), was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award in poetry. The recipient of three fellowships in literature from the Idaho Commission on the Arts, she served as the Boise Poet Laureate (2013) as well as the Idaho Writer-in-Residence (2013-2016). In 2018 she won the Idaho Governor’s Arts Award in Excellence. She teaches literature and creative writing and co-directs the program in Criminal Justice/Prison Studies at the College of Idaho. Her ninth book, I Eric America, was published in early October 2024 (Etruscan Press).
Diane Raptosh’s collection American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press), was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award in poetry. The recipient of three fellowships in literature from the Idaho Commission on the Arts, she served as the Boise Poet Laureate (2013) as well as the Idaho Writer-in-Residence (2013-2016). In 2018 she won the Idaho Governor’s Arts Award in Excellence. She teaches literature and creative writing and co-directs the program in Criminal Justice/Prison Studies at the College of Idaho. Her ninth book, I Eric America, was published in early October 2024 (Etruscan Press).