STIRRING
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
CHERYL LATIF
i have learned the language
of phlebotomy —
about butterfly needles,
how many breaths will take me
through a 14-vial collection
& the art of waiting.
i have come to expect
the dispassionate demeanor
of specialists, the sound of starched
white coats, the chill of exam rooms.
sterile interpretations of antigens,
antinuclear antibodies & sed rates
have expanded my vocabulary
if not my horizons.
weather forecasts have become meaningless,
the shortest day of the year too long,
yet somehow days continue to begin
& end in rush-hour traffic outside my window.
absent reason, i travel hope.
Cheryl Latif emigrated from San Diego to the Pacific Northwest in 2001 to live under a sky that speaks several languages. Her poems have been in public arts exhibits and published in a variety of journals and anthologies, including New Millennium Writings, The Comstock Review, Spillway and How Luminous the Wildflowers. A copywriter by trade, she relishes fooling with words.
