Jan Emerson
Jan Emerson lives, writes, and paints in New York City. A Brown Ph.D. and former professor of German and Medieval Studies, she has published on Hildegard of Bingen and other medieval visionaries. Her poems have appeared in Brevitas 14–18, in First Literary Review–East, ed. Cindy Hochman and Karen Neuberg, March, 2018, May, 2018, and November, 2021, and in Conceit Magazine, ed. Terry Perrell, May, 2022.
Website: www.janemersonartist.com
Instagram: @janemersonartist
afternoons at sappho’s
we gathered in glass houses
on the sea
posed for painted vases
pondered the state of things
feasted on water air
and the occasional pomegranate
depending on the occasion
we sat or stood
in ancient silhouette
contemplating the philosophers
contemplating philosophy.
An Sicht
Derridatives
Hegelstorms
Adornoments
Platonics
Kant do it .
judgment
the authorities assembled
called me to the bench
leaned down spoke
my sentence
it has been decided
you will be blocked
kafka said this
might happen
dementia
for the life
of me i
can't remember
why i agreed
to come on
this trip
reflection
if we're made
in his image
he can sure
be a creep
sometimes
favor
if the love
of money
is the root
of all evil
then make me
a sinner
so i can
pay the rent.
bombed
the joke
just isn’t
that funny
any more
we could
all die
laughing
