There is a moon
& there is a waterfall.
There is the dark
& there is what’s rooted underground.
There is the barren tree
& there are stars.
There is breath
& there is the river.
There is the brushed sky
& there is the dragged black grass.
There is the shadow on the light
& there is the sky’s movements.
There is the grass that
grows & the grass that winters.
There is the body
& what flows from the body.
There is the body blossoming
& there is a blossoming terror.
There are fragments of the earth
& what comes after.
There is blood that forms in the bright.
The river runs.
The grass bristles.
The trees, naked, reach.
The stars flicker and burn out.
—in the cold—
The door that opens.
The door that opens.
The door that’s open.
The moon so bright.
Amber Nelson (poem) is the author of two full-length books of poetry, In Anima: Urgency and The Sexiest Man Alive (Spooky Girlfriend Press), as well as numerous chapbooks, most recently First Apocalypse (The Magnificent Field). She was the co-founder of alice blue review, and founding editor of alice blue books. She lives in Seattle with her partner, where she hikes, bikes and cooks a lot.
Kohl King (image) was born in Bangalore, India and immigrated to the United States at an early age. She earned her B.F.A. in Drawing and Painting from the University of Georgia, an M.F.A. from the University of Arizona and studied Conceptual and Installation Art at The Cooper Union School, New York.
Being an immigrant to a Western culture and living in over 30+ different places, it is no surprise that her work is primarily drawn from her attempts to psychologically resolve relational natures and their relativity to the larger life contexts they are found in. She is interested in exploring intangible concepts and topics that deal with vulnerable emotions and situations for the individual. It is so very important to her that she constantly remains receptive to whatever she finds as she proceeds in this process because it helps her comprehend notions that are so vast and uncontrollable, yet are just part of being alive and living.
Photo: Safi Alia Shabaik
Pine Hills Review 