Night Habit

Alicia Wright

I have a night habit, darkly moving in air,Not mattering—a veil of incident light.Mother-of-pearl field luster, I park insideA streak of hill cane, where an opening foldsMe in by the perennial stream. I have my nighthabit, see, I am moving in the dark air, noMatter, no light to veil. I am incident in theField, a perennial opening folds me in. NightPark, lust for pearl. In the front pasture daisiesDiffuse, strands of lucent vapor. I walk overThe hill, a streak of dark. In the field, perennialMother in the hollow, I come for my habit—Air veil, enfold me where I matter, the openingDark, the want in me lustering. Over daisies I pearlA stream of incidents, me stranded with night,Made hollow by opening, field matter, stranger.

The Cloud of Unknowing, Chapter 23:  God will answer and provide in
spirit for those who, out of devotion to his love, choose not to answer for
themselves or make provisions for themselves.

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Alicia Wright is originally from Georgia. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Ecotone, The Literary Review, Southern Humanities Review, and Flag + Void, among others. She is a recipient of the 2016 Indiana Review Poetry Prize and fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. At present, she is a PhD candidate in creative writing at the University of Denver.

Poetry Northwest

Winter & Spring 2018

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