Hobble Creek Review
| Erin Coughlin Hollowell |
If it rains all summer
cold drops
on plants crouching
over wet soil,
continual rumble
on the metal roof,
an engine running
fitfully and then regular,
rust creeping up car frames,
slime on clapboards
and dumpsters,
the scent of rot
rubbing the corners.
Finally you understand
Noah’s wife deep in the ark,
animals cranky
and the children wild
with boredom, you
understand the way
she stared in the mirror
wishing herself
deep into the darkness
of her own pupils,
wanting someplace
alone,
how she must have tried
to pretend she was some
place quiet,
with sun on a white quilt
spread on the dry grass,
a book open.
If it rains.
cold drops
on plants crouching
over wet soil,
continual rumble
on the metal roof,
an engine running
fitfully and then regular,
rust creeping up car frames,
slime on clapboards
and dumpsters,
the scent of rot
rubbing the corners.
Finally you understand
Noah’s wife deep in the ark,
animals cranky
and the children wild
with boredom, you
understand the way
she stared in the mirror
wishing herself
deep into the darkness
of her own pupils,
wanting someplace
alone,
how she must have tried
to pretend she was some
place quiet,
with sun on a white quilt
spread on the dry grass,
a book open.
If it rains.
Erin Hollowell received her MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at
Pacific Lutheran University. Her poems have been published in Alaska
Quarterly Review, Weber Studies, and Cairn. She was commissioned by
the University of Alaska to write poems for the play Bed Sheets.
Pacific Lutheran University. Her poems have been published in Alaska
Quarterly Review, Weber Studies, and Cairn. She was commissioned by
the University of Alaska to write poems for the play Bed Sheets.
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