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Retrieval

Poetry

Retrieval

A pipe bursts and the floor buckles, wedging 
her office door half-shut; because I am small

and can weave the gap, my mother sends me
to retrieve her records. I read each name aloud 

and, when she says yes, pass her a blue folder. 
We run through the alphabet, stumbling twice 

on the deceased, more frequently on the misfiled. 
I must decipher handwritten names, then forget  

them as we go. You can do this with sounds—
let them float along—if no story is attached;

you learn not to know or speak what you notice 
when living and working transpire in one vessel

—you grow compartments or use books and dogs 
for bulkheads. I reach, pass, reach again. We fill 

a box like this. I turn sideways to extract myself. 

Ceridwen Hall is a poet and book coach. She helps poets and novelists plan, create, and revise compelling manuscripts with one-on-one coaching and inspiring feedback. She holds a PhD from the University of Utah and is the author of two chapbooks: Automotive (Finishing Line Press) and Excursions (Train Wreck Press). Her work has appeared in TriQuarterly, Pembroke Magazine, Tar River Poetry, The Cincinnati Review, and other journals. You can find her at www.ceridwenhall.com.

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Lawrence Bridges is best known for work in the film and literary world. His photographs have recently appeared in Humana Obscura, Wanderlust a Travel Journal, and the London Photo Festival. His poetry has appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, The Tampa Review, and Ambit. He has published three volumes of poetry: Horses on Drums (Red Hen Press, 2006), Flip Days (Red Hen Press, 2009) and Brownwood (Tupelo Press, 2016). He created a series of literary documentaries for the NEA’s “Big Read” initiative, which includes profiles of Ray Bradbury, Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff and Cynthia Ozick. He lives in Los Angeles.

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