Ann Iverson
I Believe in Signs, Do You?
If the swallowtail lands in your garden,
and not the greening down the way,
it must be a sign.
Don’t you think?
A message from the other world
an omen into light.
If the dying come to you
in their dreamy makeshift clothes,
with a basket of goodbyes
it must be an emblem
of the world between the worlds.
Am I right?
I do not know how small the opening
between heaven and this place
or how the enormity of one
shall pass through –
I just know of these signs
and the fragrant hands
from which they flow
the gestures and how they move,
what is moved and why.
Ann Iverson is a poet, artist, and fabric designer. She is the author of three poetry collections: Come Now to the Window (2003) by the Laurel Poetry Collective, Definite Space (2007) by Holy Cow! Press, and Art Lessons by Holy Cow! Press. She is a graduate of both the MALS and the MFA programs at Hamline University. Her poems have appeared in a wide variety of journals and venues including four readings on Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. As a visual artist, she enjoys the integrated relationship between the visual image and the written image. Her art work has been featured in several art exhibits as well as in a permanent installation at the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital. Ann has served in education in some capacity over the past 25 years. She is currently working on several art/fabric projects as well as publishing her fourth collection of poetry.