The Worrier
by Nancy Takacs
Now that you are her, what will you do?
I’ll walk across the swinging bridge
and light a clove cigarette.
How will you roam?
I’ll drive a Packard convertible,
my man in a long dark coat beside me.
In the countryside, where will you land, and what will you eat?
We’ll find a bar in northern Wisconsin.
We won’t eat.
What are you wearing, and what do you look like?
An indigo dress, a little black cloche.
I’ve outlined my lips
to look like a sweet maroon bow.
What songs will you sing?
“Heart of My Heart”
And “I Don’t Want to Play in Your Yard.”
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Who will know you better than anyone?
My silk chemise.
What undergarments do you wear?
None.
What tree do you wear instead?
The plum.
Why?
Because it’s a palm full of dusk.
What word will you use?
Flagrant. It’s time for this.
Where does the word go?
It rises from under my bare feet when I leave the beach.
What is strange about you now?
There is nothing strange.
What is common?
I have loved the first light.
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Where does the light go?
It goes under the letters in captions of what I say.
Where does the scent go?
I goes into my eyes, my mouth, the way I turn my head
so that you will imagine lilacs.
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Initially printed in The Tampa Review and The Worrier: Poems (University of Massachusetts Press, 2017).
I guess this poem is a favorite of mine, as it’s the first Worrier poem I wrote, and it called me back to write more Worriers, that became a book. I like the film star because she is strong, even though she is, in a sense, voiceless. However, in the poem, she has a voice. She takes charge of where she is going, is confident about her choices, and plays with the reader a bit.
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NANCY TAKACS is an avid boater, hiker, and mushroom forager. She lives near the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in northern Wisconsin, and in the high-desert town of Wellington, Utah. Her latest book of poems is Dearest Water. mayapplepress.com/dearest-water-nancy-takacs