April Bernard

Else
June 9, 2012 Bernard April

Else

 

At the first instance, to amuse others,
there was no stopping my wit—

It was like salt and pepper
all over the picnic—

Later, alone in the lamplight of my study,
my soul’s true scent began to warm—

And now?  Neither laughter nor tears,
but something else, better perhaps.

April Bernard’s most recent collection of poems is Brawl & Jag. She also writes fiction and essays, and teaches in the Bennington MFA Writing Seminars and at Skidmore College.