Minnesota Poetry: Ann Iverson’s “War”

Ann Iverson is a visual artist and poet who has worked in education for years. She's a member of the Laurel Poetry Collective, and her work has appeared in more than 20 print and online journals and literary magazines. She is the author of two collections of poetry: Come Now to the Window (Laurel Poetry Collective) and Definite Space (Holy Cow! Press), which was written in response to the events of 9/11 and her son's subsequent deployments to Iraq. Definite Space was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award and the Pushcart Prize in 2008. Iverson is a resident of East Bethel, Minnesota.

War

At lunch, people talk about it

here and there

between the weather

and their tuna sandwiches.

Between all the other losses

never mentioned

over Caesar salad

or beef stroganoff

or on an elevator

too slow

for its own good.

Speeding down County Road 18,

pouring rain, I saw light

beyond the clouds.

I talked to your image

rising from the mist

as though you make it through,

finding the solid truth

of God and blue sky.

- "War" by Ann Iverson, from her book Definite Space, published by Holy Cow! Press. Reprinted here with permission from the publisher.

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