Poetry by Annie Stenzel

                ​Tony Webster CC



Object permanence

The flight of youth a bit like a moon rocket
Infant to ancient. Innocence to experience
Barely a trace of tender left by the time childhood is complete
Seems like the word heedless says it all
But at the helm, is anyone paying attention?
You’d think grabbing an old photograph might be useful
In my case, very small images in black and white
I was pale, the pictures were blurred, my hair was curly-

I was pale, the pictures were blurred, my hair was curly-
In my case, very small images in black and white
You’d think grabbing an old photograph might be useful
But at the helm, is anyone paying attention?
Seems like the word heedless says it all
Barely a trace of tender left by the time childhood is complete
Infant to ancient. Innocence to experience
The flight of youth a bit like a moon rocket

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Annie Stenzel (she/her) was born in Illinois, but did not stay put. Her full-length collection is The First Home Air After Absence (Big Table Publishing, 2017). Her poems appear regularly in print and online journals in the U.S. and the U.K.—plenty of them by now. She has the usual degrees, but always earned her keep doing something completely unrelated to poetry. A co-editor for the online journals Right Hand Pointing and West Trestle Review, she now lives within walking distance of the San Francisco Bay, and relishes the proximity to salt water.

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