Nursery
It does no one good to specify the difference between
a sculpture and a child. I scraped him from the bottom
of the creek and he screamed even when he was riddled
with root and muck. The shaping is rapid as the creature
tries to harden. I told him patience patience or you will be
a brittle animal. He didn’t listen and know his limbs
fall off and go soft. Having a boy is a lot like having
a geyser. Having a girl who becomes a boy is like
having a water foundation burst open. I made him-her
a nursery here from clay just like her. We all want to be
surrounded by our own material. My second son I made
from limestone and the third from water but the first
has to be clay. A mobile of leaves that once floated
above him in the river. If you love something you have to
lock its door. You might kill it but if it doesn’t learn
to sculpt it will be nothing but a crib. A bassinette
of ribs—not mine but those dug from the river. All clay
will betray you before and after the fire. Pouring glaze
down his throat and telling him that if he wants to live
he’ll have to drink. A glossy room where the window
is painted on. There’s a courtyard on the other side
of the wall he can’t know about. How do you teach
someone to thank you?
Author: Robin GowÂ
Robin Gow is the author of the chapbook HONEYSUCKLE by Finishing Line Press. Their poetry has recently been published in POETRY, New Delta Review, and Roanoke Review. They is a graduate student and professor at Adelphi University pursing an MFA in Creative Writing. They is the Editor at Large for Village of Crickets and Social Media Coordinator for Oyster River Pages. Their first full-length poetry collection is forth-coming with Tolsun Books.
Photographer: Guilherme Bergamini
Reporter visual artist and photographic, Guilherme Bergamini is Brazilian and graduated in Journalism. For more than two decades, he has developed projects with photography and the various narrative possibilities that art offers. The works of the artist dialogue between memory and social political criticism. He believes in photography as the aesthetic potential and transforming agent of society. Awarded in national and international competitions, Guilherme Bergamini participated in collective exhibitions in 24 countries.
