Art of Poetry was honored to be included in the Fall Face to Face in the Foothills Poetry Gathering, September 18 and 19, 2015, at Hickory Museum of Art. Poets from all over the United States and Canada joined us on Saturday, September 19. We hope the poets were inspired to contribute to the next Art of Poetry on December 12, 2015.

Laurie Wilcox-Meyer
BRAVE
after “Afghan Girl, Nasir Bagh Refugee Camp” by Steve McCurry

The shawl––limp armor
in rust, collar
of blood-red, embellishes disaster.

Roofs are missing. And so, absent eaves.
White heat beats down. Smallest shell whispering
through an endless gaze. I am moved.

No rain into no rain. No message from Rumi.
She knots her leather insides.
The wall, sea-green eyes, glazed, tears me open.

Laurie Wilcox-Meyer reads her work in front of the iconic portrait of an Afghan girl by Steve McCurry at the Art of Poetry event on September 19, 2015.