Mary Buchinger
Mongolian Lamp
Today, I’m brooding about the brown broken lamp
brought whole from Mongolia by my student, his gift--
“Teachers are lamps”—six pounds; thick clay, fat wick.
Casualty of my move here to this new office, it lies
in jagged pieces on my windowsill. The morning carried
news of other ruinous moves, mockingbirds wintering
in New England, sugar maples on the march to Canada.
I brood, I brood, so brief the time I’m able to keep my arms
spread and lifted up. How heavy heaven’s bound to be.
Mary Buchinger is the author of three collections of poetry: e i n f ü h l u n g/in feeling(2018), Aerialist (2015) and Roomful of Sparrows (2008). She is President of the New England Poetry Club and Professor of English and Communication Studies at MCPHS University in Boston. Her work has appeared in AGNI, Diagram, Gargoyle, Nimrod, PANK, Salamander, Slice Magazine, The Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere; her website is www.MaryBuchinger.com.
Mongolian Lamp
Today, I’m brooding about the brown broken lamp
brought whole from Mongolia by my student, his gift--
“Teachers are lamps”—six pounds; thick clay, fat wick.
Casualty of my move here to this new office, it lies
in jagged pieces on my windowsill. The morning carried
news of other ruinous moves, mockingbirds wintering
in New England, sugar maples on the march to Canada.
I brood, I brood, so brief the time I’m able to keep my arms
spread and lifted up. How heavy heaven’s bound to be.
Mary Buchinger is the author of three collections of poetry: e i n f ü h l u n g/in feeling(2018), Aerialist (2015) and Roomful of Sparrows (2008). She is President of the New England Poetry Club and Professor of English and Communication Studies at MCPHS University in Boston. Her work has appeared in AGNI, Diagram, Gargoyle, Nimrod, PANK, Salamander, Slice Magazine, The Massachusetts Review, and elsewhere; her website is www.MaryBuchinger.com.