Ken Holland
Exposure
A creased photo, black and white, faded ink on the back—
a woman of middle years, rotary phone in hand, the mouthpiece
not far from the cradle, either in the act of picking the phone up
or setting it down. And there lies, in its simplicity, all consequence:
a voice she is about to hear, or one she's just listened to and now
setting the phone back in place.
A voice that just told her of a death in the family. Or, as the photo allows,
a voice still composing itself for when the woman brings the phone
to her ear, having yet to ask who's calling; and the camera just then
letting in light through the aperture of the lens, a soft clicking
that brings this particular moment to its end: a woman who is home
and yet, as the photo also allows, a person not alone.
Bio
Ken Holland has had work widely published in such journals as Rattle, Tulane Review, and Tar River Poetry. He was awarded first place in the 2022 New Ohio Review poetry contest and was a finalist in the 2022 Lascaux Prize in Poetry. His book length manuscript, Summer of the Gods, was a semi-finalist in the 2022 Able Muse book competition as well as Word Work's 2022 Washington Prize. He's been nominated three times for the Pushcart Prize. He lives in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York. More by visiting his website: www.kenhollandpoet.com