Opener: “(sol)ace” by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

(sol)ace

A hummingbird hovers in air between droplets of rain, showers in a single stream. The storm—: a wholeness
broken into—: sparkling strands, into globules cracked like clear casks over the bird’s jewel-toned crown—:
splashes silver. Delight wings ] go little rockstar [ 40 beats per second—: not tiktok, but stillness. Suspense. A
hummingbird breaks the day. Suspense sustains. Slow me, then—: in rarefaction. You moved into—: the rain
between—: black and green, where lift resides. The life reorient—: dwelling where we come to—: singing,
buzzing. (A crow knows what it knows.) We are made giddy—: delayed. A shared vibration holds us up. Black,
greening—: every span of shade to determine—: the shape of the body, the body’s inclination—: the density of
the air

folded like a note
passed between two huddled girls—:
laughter—: ruby-throats…

for e.

About Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon

LYRAE VAN CLIEF-STEFANON is the author of Open Interval, a finalist for the National Book Award and the LA Times Book Prize, and Black Swan, winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. She is currently at work on The Coal Tar Colors, her third poetry collection, and Purchase, a collection of essays. She has been awarded fellowships from Cave Canem, the Lannan Foundation, and Civitella Ranieri. A member of The Cherry Arts collective, she has written lyrics and plays and her work has been featured at National Theatre London.