Well …a few houses down from me on School St. in Union Square is the home of Lucy Holstedt and Kirk Etherton. Both Lucy and Kirk are accomplished poets and musicians and very much part of the fabric of our artistic community. Here are a couple of poems from this duo that I am sure you will enjoy.

Somervillenelle     

They say I’m a Somervillen,
I live across the Cambridge line.
Well, you see why: That’s my billin’-

address. On Saturdays I’m chillin’
with Bagel Bards, who, when they rhyme,
they say, “I’m a Somervillen!”

My next-door neighbor’s brew I’m swillin’,
purple wine from her grape vine.
(Well, you see why that’s my buildin’.)

“Location, location, 1-in-a-million!
Everything in this burb’s prime,”
they say. I’m a Somervillen,

and as your neighbor I’d be willin’
to do a favor any time.
Well, you see why my fame’s buildin’!

Now, I’ve tried to write a villan-
elle, and it turned out just fine.
They say I’m a Somervillen,
L-U-C-Y: that’s my billin’.

— Lucy Holstedt

Union Square July Haiku

Days before the Fourth,
a slow-motion explosion:
these yellow flowers.

— Kirk Etherton

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To have your work considered for the LYRICAL send it to: 
Doug Holder  25 School St. Somerville, Mass. 02143 
dougholder@post.harvard.edu