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| Issue 23: | 28 April 2024 |
| Poem: | 93 words |
By Cynthia Anderson
Inheritance
The glance of recognition, the courtship dance, the touch that pulls someone in— how much passes down from generation to generation? If we could watch our parents in the act, would it be like watching ourselves— inherited gestures leading to the same thoughtless orgasm? One could argue there’s no shame in how desire fulfills itself, no psychic cost— but there’s that stray photo in the family album, my father’s first wife, never mentioned, confident in black and white, staring at us who came after— daring us to imagine why she’s still there.
Cynthia Anderson
A California resident for more than 40 years, Cynthia Anderson is the author of 13 poetry collections, most recently The Far Mountain (The Wise Owl Publications, 2024), Arrival (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2023), and Full Circle (Cholla Needles Press, 2022). Her poems appear frequently in journals and anthologies, and her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Cynthia is co-editor of the anthology A Bird Black As the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens (Green Poet Press).
Author’s website: www.cynthiaandersonpoet.com
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