Art Chowder November | December 2016, Issue 6 | Page 42

Ellen Welker | Washington Poet
with institutions like the Library of Congress, New York University, The Poetry Foundation, Seattle Arts and
Lectures, The Poetry Center at University of Arizona and more. My job is to set up the events, which means
I get to talk to a lot of amazing poets on a regular basis, brainstorm some incredible events, listen to all
their lectures, and sometimes attend their workshops and talks. It’s great.”

It’s Called the Sea
A tiny kitten scratches my palm.
Later I find the claw embedded like a pearl or a
fossil in the meat of me. I give a puppy a bloody
nose that won’t stop. That night I blow up the
American buffalo. I push it off a cliff. It’s my
anniversary. I don’t want this to be about me.
I heave a beached Orca into a plastic bag. It
quietly doubles over on itself. I twist the top of
the bag and look for a bread tie. There is none
to be found. I push it out into collective shame
and anxiety. It’s called the sea. My name is
unpronounceable. The whale’s name is whale.

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