2019 | Margo Davis

Census Bureau

The trick is walking into my shadow
and not coming out. Or better yet,
gathering it into myself like a faded blanket
one folds carefully, outstretched arms
tucked in, the length longer than
I am tall. I have folded,
wanting no one to notice the direction I take
as I hunker behind landmark structures
the sun beats down upon. Sweat it out,
I tell myself. The moon will surface
to make its full case. Thus far it hasn’t
cratered into earth, into me. A flashlight
could do me in, though in truth, the hand, arm,
face of its ghoulish inquisitor could make
my spirit vanish without a trace.

Nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The Fourth River (Dec. 2018)

Margo Davis is a recent retiree celebrating wanderlust. She attained her MFA in New Orleans, USA before her Research Services career took her to Houston. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Margo’s poems have appeared in Ekphrastic Review, Ocotillo Review, What Rough Beast, The Fourth River, Misfit, Light, Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express. Anthology publications include Enchantment of the Ordinary, Echoes of the Cordillera, Untameable City and Of Burgers and Ballrooms.

“This residency will provide a quiet, natural setting for writing into my poetry manuscript. Primarily I write ekphrastic poetry, stimulated by manmade expression or natural environs as a point of departure for meditative thought. I surround myself with exhibits, archives, books, photographs, films (digested in-person, through research and by combing archived content). My personal politics often surface; global warming has scorched many of my poems which evolved in natural settings, particularly parks”.