MELANIE CHICOINE, Poet
"Capturing Beauty II"
"Peaceable Kingdom"
Melanie Chicoine lives in Amherst NH with her husband, poet Ala Khaki. A native to NH, Melanie enjoys spending her time volunteering, traveling, and writing. Melanie is an active member of several poetry groups and organizations in and around New England; her poems have appeared in Poets’ Guide to NH: More Places, More Poets, COVID Spring – Granite State Pandemic Poems, and others. Melanie is currently serving as president on the Board of Directors for the Poetry Society of New Hampshire (PSNH), and was a recent chief editor of PSNH’s literary journal, The Poets’ Touchstone. During her tenure as editor, she spearheaded the publication of a special collection celebrating all NH State Poets Laureate.
Peaceable Kingdom
Outside the barn, a goat
held in a woman’s arms stretches
to meet a daughter’s stare, to show
her the way
while in a gentle slope, horses
ofer sanctuary in blind comfort,
cheekbones caressing, mouths
full with quiet,
a language of warm
breath and ritual, beyond
ears the whisper of
right here--
sockets circles
of vision in shared
parts, designed to fit
together.
Outside the barn, a woman
cradles a goat, her daughter
in eager gaze, in search
of what she feels
while in a gentle slope, a woman
embraces horses, faces
pressed together in a sightless
bliss of belonging
here in the where of hands,
in an oldest of energy, who want
equally their lives, to touch
at the shoulders
while somewhere a collective
of legs twitch in dreams, move
into the magic beyond stranger, to
the rescue of intimacy.
Melanie Chicoine
© Melanie Chicoine 2023
Outside the barn, a goat
held in a woman’s arms stretches
to meet a daughter’s stare, to show
her the way
while in a gentle slope, horses
ofer sanctuary in blind comfort,
cheekbones caressing, mouths
full with quiet,
a language of warm
breath and ritual, beyond
ears the whisper of
right here--
sockets circles
of vision in shared
parts, designed to fit
together.
Outside the barn, a woman
cradles a goat, her daughter
in eager gaze, in search
of what she feels
while in a gentle slope, a woman
embraces horses, faces
pressed together in a sightless
bliss of belonging
here in the where of hands,
in an oldest of energy, who want
equally their lives, to touch
at the shoulders
while somewhere a collective
of legs twitch in dreams, move
into the magic beyond stranger, to
the rescue of intimacy.
Melanie Chicoine
© Melanie Chicoine 2023