Anita Olivia Koester
Basses and Baritones
I bought violins just to tear them apart,
hear the tuck and shud of the strings as I unraveled them,
immersed my whole fist in the mouth of the violin's body,
and by taking away its power, I gave it a reason to haunt me.
I handed you satin ribbons off old presents
to tie my hands to the posts, centuries of basses and baritones
telling me, this is what I want, only I didn't.
Bio
Anita Olivia Koester is a Chicago poet. She is the author of the chapbooks Marco Polo (Hermeneutic Chaos Press) and Year of the Dogs (Back to Print). Her poetry is published or forthcoming in Vinyl, Tahoma Literary Review, CALYX Journal, Stirring and elsewhere. Her poems have been nominated for Best New Poets and a Pushcart Prize, and won the Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Award. She is also the recipient of the Bread Loaf Returning Contributors Award and her writing has been supported by Vermont Studio Center, Art Farm, and SAFTA. Visit her online at– www.anitaoliviakoester.com