From a Distance We Can See More Clearly What Was Right in Front of Us

From a Distance We Can See More Clearly What Was Right in Front of Us Heather June Gibbons (bio) As in fault lines and worry linesas in as-is condition as in take itas it is for all it's worthplay it as it lays as in frayedas in lifeline traced in your palmas in star charts and no-faultdivorce states as in silenceand cross talk tar pitsand pit stains pull tabsand sound baths and silk hoseand sinkholes and slinkback in slingbacks trick fallas in doomscroll as in downlowballed and curveball and close callas in long shots and whythe long face as in catgutlike ligature, like stringsas in no strings or high-strungas in cat got your tongueas in knowing the ins and outsbut mostly the outsas in on the outsnot as in on the insidebut as in [End Page 20] Heather June Gibbons heather june gibbons is the author of the poetry collection Her Mouth as Souvenir, winner of the Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize (University of Utah Press). She has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, Fine Arts Work Center, and Vermont Studio Center. She lives in San Francisco.