Tina Kelley
I Used to Write Love Poems
Remember how in college we tired of workshopping
all those “I’ve been to Paris” poems? Then my father died
and I wrote dead father poems, never wanted to be that poet,
but suddenly was. Then unrequited love poems, then requited
love poems, then required love poems, and then yes! The kids
were adorable, they spawned many poems, until they started
saying things just to get into my poems. Now they’re older,
and smell worse, and head lice and concussions and soccer
are less poetic than nursing. And then my mother got weak.
A friend died, another got sick, mom stopped talking
and another friend died, and my poems got deathy.
I wanted to write about trees, but trees don’t do
anything, really, so the tree poems went
nowhere, and now all I want is a trip
to someplace I’ve never heard of.
And grandchildren.
Tina Kelley’s Rise Wildly appeared in 2020 from CavanKerry Press, joining Abloom & Awry, Precise, and The Gospel of Galore, a Washington State Book Award winner. She reported for The New York Times and wrote two nonfiction books. Her poems have appeared in Cimarron Review, Southwest Review, Prairie Schooner, and The Best American Poetry 2009, among other publications. She received a 2023 Finalist award from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.
She covers education for NJ.com/The Star-Ledger.