Stuart Kestenbaum

author of six collections of poetry and a collection of essays; Poet Laureate of Maine host of Poems from Here on Maine Public Radio; his work has appeared in Tikkun, the Sun, the Beloit Poetry Journal, and the New York Times;


 

Prayer for Joy

 

What was it we wanted to say anyhow, like today when there were all the letters in my alphabet soup and suddenly the ‘j’ rises to the surface. The ‘j’, a letter that might be great for Scrabble, but not really used for much else, unless we need to jump for joy, and then all of a sudden it’s there and ready to help us soar and to open up our hearts at the same time, this simple line with a curved bottom, an upside down cane that helps us walk in a new way into this forest of language, where all the letters are beginning to speak, finding each other in just the right combination to be understood.

 

from Only Now by Stuart Kestenbaum (Deerbrook Editions)