my mother used to say
for minor events I’m sure
an omniscient, omnipresent
god had little concern for.
I’d say, “I hope I don’t have cavities”
or “I hope I get a raise this year.”
“God willing,” my mother said, hoping
herself, I suppose, the god she believed in
a little more near the end of her life
would, for the briefest moment,
stop juggling universes and look our way
while whole galaxies–
planets, moons, stars–
hung spinning in the sky.
~ Antonio Vallone
Antonio Vallone, associate professor of English at Penn State DuBois, founder of MAMMOTH books, poetry editor of Pennsylvania English, co-founding editor of The Watershed Journal Literary Group. Published collections: The Blackbird’s Applause, Grass Saxophones, Golden Carp, and Chinese Bats. Forthcoming: American Zen, Blackberry Alleys: Collected Poems and Prose. In progress: The Death of Nostalgia.
Guest Editor Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Ph.D., the 2009-13Kansas Poet Laureate is the author of 24 books, including How Time Moves: New & Selected Poems; Miriam’s Well, a novel; Needle in the Bone, a non-fiction book on the Holocaust; The Sky Begins At Your Feet: A Memoir on Cancer, Community, and Coming Home to the Body. Founder of Transformative Language Arts, she leads writing workshops widely, coaches people on writing and right livelihood, and consults on creativity. YourRightLivelihood.com, Bravevoice.com, CarynMirriamGoldberg.com
The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative 
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