Patricia Nelson
Patricia Nelson works with the “Activist” group of poets in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her newest book, Monster Monologues is due out in December 2024 from Fernwood Press.
Orpheus in the Underworld
There is a round door into loss,
where love may circle slowly
like a bear and enter.
The air in the underworld
is soft and gray. It flutters
like the dust in which
the ravens wash their wings.
I must bring her back to light
without holding her colors with my eyes
or touching the thought
of her dissolution and decay.
But there are bloodless creatures here
walking without heat or odor.
Their rustling confuses me.
I must winnow her sound
from the music of their darkness
and the loudness of my hope.
