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Finally, After Years of Being Someone Else, I’ve Slowly Become

myself. And today, I keep meeting new selves—
an improved fleet of ferries traveling the same waterways 
but glittering and dressed in this season’s traveling clothes.
I’ve conjured my life with imaginative acts, in accidents 
of possibility. In the pleasure of a piece of music or through 
the shared midnight breeze by a picture window. 
Dangerous beginnings now intrigue me with what ifs 
and maybe whens. The spectral of desire encrypted in a flock 
of texts, in a telephone message; and private radio shows. 
What is longing made from? How long might it last? 
In romcoms the narrative usually ends prettily—
We hover the cursor by happily ever after,
never hint at the shorelines where lust will pass.
 
 

Susan Rich

Susan Rich is the author of six poetry books including Blue Atlas (Red Hen Press, 2024) and Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems (Salmon Poetry, 2022). In addition, she is co-editor with Kelli Russell Agodon of Demystifying the Manuscript: Essays and Interviews on Creating a Book of Poems (Two Sylvias Press, 2023). Work appears in: New England Review, Solstice, and The Slowdownwith Major Jackson. Her poems have earned awards from PEN USA, Times Literary Supplement (London), and the Fulbright Foundation.

About

Susan Rich is the author of six poetry books including Blue Atlas (Red Hen Press, 2024) and Gallery of Postcards and Maps: New and Selected Poems (Salmon Poetry, 2022). In addition, she is co-editor with Kelli Russell Agodon of Demystifying the Manuscript: Essays and Interviews on Creating a Book of Poems (Two Sylvias Press, 2023). Work appears in: New England Review, Solstice, and The Slowdown with Major Jackson. Her poems have earned awards from PEN USA, Times Literary Supplement (London), and the Fulbright Foundation.