Derek Gromadzki
Orant
Hang a hand on heaven’s edge
and plod
away away into duration
if ever a cleft in millennia
ever deeper than did plummet
sound
a cry so soon obeyed
as soon forgotten
cause forgiveness and we slow
rows of remembrance march
Derek Gromadzki is an MFA and PhD student at the University of Iowa. His most recent work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, The Brooklyner, Cavalier Literary Couture, and CutBank, and is forthcoming in Midway, The Journal, American Letters & Commentary, and other publications.
“My fondest porch memories are from the summers I used to spend on my grandparents’ farm. The front porch of the farmhouse gave right onto an apple orchard. I remember collecting all the ripest apples I could find and sitting for hours, eating them and staring off into the trees.”
