Weekly Feature: Poetry at The Arts Fuse
The magazine is excited to announce its new feature “Poetry at The Arts Fuse,” which will present a poem every Thursday.
Hey poets! We seek submissions of excellent poetry from across the length and breadth of contemporary poetics. Please see submission guidelines here. The arbiter of the feature will be Poetry Editor John Mulrooney.
— Arts Fuse Editor Bill Marx
Here is our first poem. Enjoy.
SONG FOR BETH HARMON WHO DOESN’T EXIST
For when you are orphan-feral in the eye
of your mind.
For when you dance to the music of the blood
in the ears.
For when you wear the habit
of the morning star.
For when the ice melts
on its own.
For the calling
that is like a hole in the earth.
For all of the wide, tilting earth
as it glitters below.
For every lost thing found
in the cradle of a street.
For barmen & angels
& angles of approach.
For the fallen king,
the queen who rules.
For the insouciance
that burns.
For when god comes
in a flash of silver.
For the endless night;
for the morning after.
For the impossibility
of problems.
For the problem
of consciousness.
For money.
For keeps.
For the last time,
forever & ever
amen.
Mark Lamoureux lives and practices yoga in New Haven, Connecticut, and teaches English at Housatonic Community College. He is the author of six volumes of poetry. His work has appeared in Fence, spoKe, Yes Poetry, Ping Pong, and other publications.
I wish there was some context for this poem. Why the author has written it and some guidance to look for as you read it. It would deepen my experience and enjoyment for all poems printed here.
Hi Blu,
I’ll try to answer your question.
Beth Harmon is the main character from Walter Tevis’ novel The Queen’s Gambit, which was made into a limited series by Netflix. I related to the character (even though she is a fictional entity), who is a chess prodigy who also struggles with alcoholism, so I wrote this poem for the character as though she were a real person. Some of the lines in the poem refer directly to things from the novel/TV series, which I highly recommend!
I loved this poem. Each line was its own revelation. Yes, there is much mystery. But isn’t that what is so wonderful about powerful poems? We are invited into someone’s consciousness. A place we’ve never been before. To me this was like the chants in Eliot’s works. The incantatory, the prayer, the mantra, the shaman’s blessing…….