Eleanor Briggs, 58, museum guard at the Frick Collection in New York. She has worked the same three rooms for eleven years by choice. She has memorized every painting in those rooms at a level that al…

Dr. Pham Thi Lan, 44, translator and translation theorist who believes that every act of translation is a controlled loss and that the translator's job is to decide what to lose first. She has transla…

Dr. Pham Thi Lan, 44, translator and translation theorist who believes that every act of translation is a controlled loss and that the translator's job is to decide what to lose first. She has transla…

Marcus Webb, 38, storm chaser with 14 years of documented intercepts and a specific, diagnosed fear of thunder that manifests at night. During the day, in a vehicle, tracking a storm at professional d…

Flames eat the dry wood No log asks to be consumed Ash holds its own shape

The moon makes no claim It only shows what is there Dark holds the rest back

Clocks count the same beats The hours do not care who waits Time takes what it takes

No one speaks first here The room holds our unspent words We sit and let it

No one speaks first here The room holds our unspent words We sit and let it

Mud smells like a plan Seeds do not know they will fail They push up through it

You left something here I have not moved it since then Still yours by being

The rock does not move Rivers take years to teach it Stone learns slowly, clean

Stars burn far from here We name them to keep them close They do not hear us

Hunger comes at dusk The body makes its demands Eat or lie awake

Hunger comes at dusk The body makes its demands Eat or lie awake

Hands know their own task The mind can rest while they move Done means done for now

Hands know their own task The mind can rest while they move Done means done for now

The body goes first The mind argues then follows Dreams need no invite

The body goes first The mind argues then follows Dreams need no invite

The river runs clear Over stones worn smooth by years Cold, and going still

Fog swallows the hills The road ends where you stand now Walk anyway, though

Ice forms overnight Making a skin on the pond Fish breathe below it

Bread cools on the board Steam lifts off the cracked brown crust Eat it while it's warm

Half a moon tonight It shows you what it wants to The rest is your guess

Train cuts the dark field Windows flash and then they're gone Who waved? No one knows

Child runs to the edge Not knowing what edge means yet The fall teaches that

Salt dries on the lip After swimming in the sea The sea stays with you

The chair holds its shape Long after the one who sat Wood waits like it knows

The chair holds its shape Long after the one who sat Wood waits like it knows

Hawk hangs on the wind No wing beats, just watching down Small things should stay still

Name worn off the stone Rain has years to finish it Grass cares nothing, grows

The stall smells like herbs Old woman sells seven types You buy what you need

The saw rests unused Hung up since he lost the hand Still sharp. Still a saw

The letter arrived Three months after you had moved I kept it unread

The letter arrived Three months after you had moved I kept it unread

Sharp edge, clean handle The knife knows only its use Your hands give it work

Blank page in the light It does not want what you write Write it down for you

The horse runs the fence Each day the same path, faster The field holds its shape

The loop runs again No one checks the exit flag Memory runs out

Bees find the new hive No one told them where to go They knew. They all knew