As a Child

Stevie Howell

I knew you as a child. We were closer in age, in that place. Yr parents
had just the right amount of money
& a space for you, & always left a light on. Mine did, too.I’m trying to describe our houses. Symmetrical white cottages w/patina
from the sun. Partially open
to the outside w/shutters. The windows had no glass in them.We lived along the quietest river, almost motionless, like a reflecting pool
but not stagnant. That was possible.
The river had no bank to ease in by, it was immediate & deepyet unthreatening. The houses were plaster w/elaborate trim & tile work.
If you looked at a detail, it revealed its math to
you for hours (bits of pictures I’ve seen of French & Greek islands).There were choruses of flowers that stayed in bloom for years. The weather,
a zephyr. There had never been a blizzard or
a mirage. Your mother worked for a doctor. She was also the doctor.The doctor’s office was made of marble but had solved the echo problem.
Neither noisy nor silent. A low hum far away
even tho it was happening close. The doctor helped peopletelepathically (there were no appointments) & simultaneously typed up
progress reports (that later evaporated).
The healing never ended. & there were cures. There wasa firepit & a concert hall inside the doctor’s office. We cried about
orchestras. We walked around hot
on one side. I knew you as a teenager, all those years& we never got bored b/c everything was beautiful & everyone was
honest. Enough information to attend to for
hundreds of lifetimes. The whole of history, w/o the tyrantIn our village, the bad things that happened to you did not happen to you.One day, out of curiosity, we kissed.
I took you in my hands. A voice whispered ‘finally.’ &&No, I didn’t do that. I held your hand.           That’s better,we agreed. That’s better for us. Our agreement,           a lock & key           affixed to no surfacewe made ourselves innocent again.I knew you as a child, & so the future grew entirely different

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Stevie Howell is an Irish-Canadian writer and editor. Stevie’s poetry has appeared in BOAAT, Prairie Schooner, Gigantic Sequins, The Cossack Review, and Prelude. A second collection of poetry, I left nothing inside on purpose, is forthcoming spring 2018 from Penguin Random House Canada. Stevie is the poetry editor at This Magazine and is an MFA candidate in creative writing at NYU. www.steviehowell.ca

Michigan Quarterly Review

Fall 2017

Ann Arbor, Michigan

University of Michigan

Editor
Khaled Mattawa

Poetry Editor
Constanza Contreras

Managing Editor
H.R. Webster

Michigan Quarterly Review is an interdisciplinary and international literary journal, combining distinctive voices in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, as well as works in translation. Our work extends online as well, where we publish cultural commentary alongside reviews and interviews with writers, artists, and cultural figures around the world. The flagship literary journal of the University of Michigan, our magazine embraces creative urgency and cultural relevance, aiming to challenge conventions and address long-overdue conversations. As we continue to promote an expansive and inclusive vision, we seek work from established and emerging writers with diverse aesthetics and experiences.

Twice a year, we curate an array of perspectives on a single theme. Past special issues have included writing on the Flint Water Crisis, the Great Lakes, Greece, China, and Caregiving.

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