Another Word for Hunger by Heather Bartlett

Heather Bartlett’s debut poetry collection Another Word for Hunger is heartfelt and sexy. The language grabs the reader with its immediacy and hunger. There are many poems in this collection that I will return to, and some I will bring to my students. Bartlett is spare and direct in her language, which compiles with the urgency of longing to allow a powerful connection to the reader. Buy here.

From “How to Weed a Garden”

. . . I haven’t lifted the blinds

in six days. Maybe seven.

This kind of counting

will make you weep. This kind

of weeping will dry you up.

Look at these hard hands,

at the hard ground. Even the soil

is tired of waiting. It’s not

that I can’t wait a little longer;

it’s the dandelions, those dumb flowers

poking through the dirt.

From “I Spy”

One of my loves

took a walk through town

in silver sneakers. One

of my loves took selfies

in stage costumes. I click

through their lives

from a safe distance. I do everything

from a safe distance. Tonight

I’m spying on a woman

I couldn’t love back.

Now I miss her . . .

From “red | wolf”

. . . this is the root of hunger:

            reaching for the thick slice

of your cheek (flushing

            against my hand)

is this meant for me

            to take (will you come)

in to swim inside

            my hollow body

(will you come) you

            taste like me.