Katie Hughbanks, “Hyacinth Contemplation,” (2025)

Pearled | Held | Spare

SHEILA E. MURPHY

I want the quietest
of you. Pearled
as held. Spare.

Is it dark
yet? If yes, let's
close the blinds.

Praise privacy.
All we have
known. A tone

of us sown
smooth in
winter sun.

Sheila E. Murphy’s most recent book publication is Escritoire (Lavender Ink, 2025). She is the recipient of the Gertrude Stein Poetry Award for Letters to Unfinished J. (Green Integer Press, 2003). She also won the Hay(ha)ku Book Prize for Reporting Live From You Know Where (Meritage Press, 2018). She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Her Wikipedia page can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Murphy