POET OF THE DAY: Heather Ross Miller

Heather Ross Miller is one of the divas 
of Southern literature. Shortly after 
her graduation from UNC-Greensboro, 
where she studied with Randall Jarrell,
her first novel was published to critical
acclaim, and she soon became one of 
the leading voices in Southern writing.
Her memoir Crusoe's Island remains
one of my favorite books. She has written
poetry for years, with several collections
to her credit. Her new collection
titled Lumina, will be published in May.
 



A Comet at Easter           
Contrails in the sky, condensed water
fine as angel hair, white as the tails of comets.
I remember such a comet over the row houses
where everybody lived the same destiny upstairs,
downstairs, animals in a three-meal zoo.
My warm pie face and pink Easter coat,
a braided straw bonnet tied under chin,
my skin thinner than pink shells,
the eggs boiled hard so the yolks
showed bitter coronas, dark
to my tongue.
The comet showed fiery showers
I thought looked better from the side,
like thin hairs caught on eyelashes.
And while I hunted eggs in the yard,
hard-boiled pink and grass-stained,
the comet, boiling hard
through years of hairy fire,
evading eyelashes and lens,
trailed where I bent there,
young, insignificant, female,
finding another shell dyed
thin and hopeful as Easter.
Easter Dress
Floating these foamy rich skirts
smooth as a breeze in pearl stitch, a marcasite-weave,
I smell oranges, sweet bruising spices in my sleeve,
pleasing the air as this dress carries me off
the way I carry off men I love.
I made it myself, you know, cut into long soft yards
ripe as plums. Sweetened my hopes to stitch
deeper toward older flavors,
and bring forth the dress,
purple upon me, a perfect fit.
And I knew as I drew inside its welcome,
the things I'd done right, more than right.
Bathed my children, fed them, watched them
sleep the night until they'd grown to sleep
without me, until they watched beside their own.
So, mornings now, I smooth my lap full of plums,
glad to sit back softly alone, waiting for them
to call, to ask, You got on your purple dress?