Poem of the Week, by Emily Rechnitz

Wedding
– Emily Rechnitz

I stumbled in high heels
across the wood chips
of the Christmas-tree farm
to take my place with the other guests
under coarse pine boughs.

In a coned damsel cap
the bride glimmered
through the woods, materialized
at the altar microphone.

In the barbecue line
his mother whispered on my neck,
“I thought you would be the one!”

I watched the bride and groom
shake hands, stared at his profile
til it buzzed, remembering
2 a.m. behind the high school
when we rocked on a blanket
rubbing jeans into jeans
until the moon jumped and I fell
off the hill slowly, a diamond in glycerine.

I remember walking down a road to meet him,
how the air tingled, in love
with how I looked in my underwear,
dancing in front of his mirror.



I could not find any recent information on Emily Rechnitz and her poetry – anyone out there in the know, please update me.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Alison-McGhee/119862491361265?ref=ts

Blog: alisonmcghee.com/blog

3 comments

  1. anno · August 11, 2012

    This was all I could find:

    interesting coincidence…

    Like

  2. WillieM · July 15, 2014

    I was searching for john paladino, old friend from college, i too found only the wedding announcement nytimes, and this poem by his wife emily. Where did you find it? Any clues as to where they are now?

    Like

    • alisonmcghee · April 15, 2016

      Dear Willie,

      So sorry for this extremely late response – I just found this in my spam file. I first read this poem many years ago in the New Yorker. When I published it on the blog, Emily wrote to me, but her response somehow disappeared (I can’t find it anywhere). So I find myself in the same boat as you. If you’ve managed to find an email or other contact, please do let me know. Thanks!

      Like

Leave a comment