Marsh River Editions

Zebra

by Nadine

S. St. Louis

Nadine S. St. Louis’s book, Zebra, is a rich and an abundantly affirming gift to the reader. By sharing her love of language and her own journey as a cancer survivor, she lays a pathway of poems that call out to us, that are deeply grounded in her personal, yet universal, quest for healing. I am stunned by the power, the courage, and yes, even the finely-honed sense of humor these poems bring to the reader. This is an exquisite collection of poetry guided by the sure hand and the open heart of a skilled poet.

Ellen Kort

These very moving, hard-won, intricately connected poems by Nadine S. St. Louis leave you with the distinct feeling that this is the person you’d want beside you during the toughest of times. Fortunately, this book makes that possible. These poems transform adversity into opportunity, and opportunity into a generous vision of our shared mortality. I should also mention there’s a lot of humor.

Max Garland

You can’t just write poems as tough and beautiful as these, you have to earn them, and this poet has, praise be, for all of us.

Bruce Taylor

ISBN 978-0-9772768-5-1

Published 2008

56 pages

French flap outer wraps

$12

Appointed Poet Laureate of Eau Claire

Read a review of Zebra

by Lou Roach

online at Verse Wisconsin

http://versewisconsin.org/issue102/reviews102/roach.html

Nadine S. St. Louis

November 17, 1936 - September 29, 2010

Zebra

by Nadine S. St. Louis

i.

Old med school rule:

when you hear hoofbeats

think horses, not zebras.

Necessary corollary: Someday

there will come a zebra.

ii.

Most unusual says the wise

woman in the white coat. Highly

unlikely another concurs.

My God! thus the gentleman

from another venue, nobody

gets that!

Zebra rising.

iii.

Life is not all

(you know this)

black and white,

but zebras are.

Do these two facts

color the way

they see the world?

iv.

Poke flank, prod chest,

look closely at the teeth.

Diagnosis

or zebra trading?

v.

In the comics a crocodile

with extraordinary accent

harangues his zebra neighbor

to come and be eaten.

Zebra demurs. Funny zebra.

vi.

These chemicals will do

the trick—almost always

work—see here in this book.

Almost always. . . . Oh.

vii.

In danger

does Zebra take on

the spirit of Lion

pursuing?

viii.

Consulting dictionary

of terms known only

to the initiated:

Z (Ger. Zucking) contraction

Zeatin toxin that can be

made from sweet corn

Zelotypia excessive zeal

or jealousy

Zieve’s syndrome the ultimate

among hangovers

No zebra.

ix.

Strange, beautiful,

in some locations

threatened with extinction,

asking only forage

and freedom—

essence of zebra.

x.

Teflon and steel—

exotic trees—how many

make a forest?

Beyond the glass grass

murmurs under light

rain.

xi.

Cats in the dark

all, they say, are gray.

Do zebras running

strobe in moonlight?

xii.

Scalpels:

Little’s and general

and Mayo operating,

Liston and Bistoury,

even ultrasonic.

Zebras among knives.

xiii.

Online fine example

of the photographer’s art:

Lion attacks, Zebra

escapes on motorcycle.

Go, Zebra!

TO ORDER:

$12 plus $3 postage.

Send check, made out to Marsh River Editions, to:

Marsh River Editions

Linda Aschbrenner

M233 Marsh Road

Marshfield, WI 54449

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Thank you!