Patrycja Humienik

emptied out

—for Gabrielle Bates

i barely remember how the road looked before

surprise of snow moving eclipse-like across pines & peaks

unsteadying our voices into giddiness

left & right swaths of fog the swans! swimming in another

moody body like a bpk poem by the highway

then hundreds of stumps dark & rotting along a blueish lake

flash of black cows grazing on a hill more fog

you saying this is what the inside of my brain looks like

before winding canyon road azure sky cold

uphill talking about radical eulogies thinking of

my grandfather & funerals missed the view desolate

without bleakness but emptied out of extraneous color

reversing to see the baby cow the family’s faces turned toward

us like the splatter of cloud approaching the ranch

where i took a bath so hot i had to let the cold air in

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Statement of Homage

Gabrielle Bates is a poet who has made an immeasurable mark on my writing and life. This poem emerged from a trip we took together during our shared birthday month.

Gabrielle Bates

Gabrielle Bates is a writer and visual artist from Birmingham, Alabama, currently based in Seattle, WA. She co-hosts The Poet Salon podcast with Luther Hughes and Dujie Tahat. Among many memorable works are her poems “The Mentor” in Poetry, “Southside” in VQR, and “The Dog” in The Offing. She has poems forthcoming in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The American Poetry Review, Washington Square Review, and elsewhere.

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