Sunday Afternoon at the Washington County Museum

Hush, hush!
Docents usher youngsters
into the a gallery of American art
with Ashcan whispers,
Impressionist murmurs,
and sighs for Sargent, Singer, Steichen.
A score of small bodies
in Brownian motion
collide by Bierstadt
and ricochet off Remington, until
a little girl in purple
skips into the hallowed room
with a sneakered squeak,
then shrieks a single syllable
that says it all, loudly: Wow!

for Iris and Gary Heichel

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Karla Linn Merrifield

Karla Linn Merrifield has 14 books to her credit. Following her 2018 Psyche’s Scroll (Poetry Box Select) is the 2019 full-length book Athabaskan Fractal: Poems of the Far North from Cirque Press. She is currently at work on a poetry collection, My Body the Guitar, inspired by famous guitarists and their guitars; the book is slated to be published in December 2021 by Before Your Quiet Eyes Publications Holograph Series (Rochester, NY). She is a frequent contributor to The Songs of Eretz Poetry Review. Web site: https://www.karlalinnmerrifield.org/; blog: https://karlalinnmerrifeld.wordpress.com/; Tweet @LinnMerrifiel; Instagram: https://www.facebook.com/karlalinn.merrifield.