Whenever I get lost in my dreams
I always end up here
on these roads that go
nowhere, straight,
or to the side
straight
to other roads
that go nowhere
endlessly through the orchards.
Hear Theresa read "Yuba City"? (11kHz AIFF Format 213k)
Such crooked little drumbeats
come out of them.
There are no fingers on the
hands that don't beat
them. The ears
have no earrings.
Such awkward dancers.
They hop, bloated.
Each step divvied up
by a bread slicer,
each heartbeat
replicated in heaven
on maps.
These bird pistons thumping,
dressed in those raw, chickenbreast
pinks and whites. . .
the hands that go into them
come out prehensile as ever.
Hear Theresa read "Such Crooked Little Drums"? (11kHz AIFF Format 382k)
In the morning she liberated all of the vegetables in the crisper
from their rubber bands and twist ties. In the afternoon
she drew simple pencil lines
through all the Peter Rabbit stories
where he had to keep his clothes clean.
The garden was what pleased her:
magnificent in its peonies,
wild at the edges with oat grass.
Hear Theresa read "Accidental Voodoo"? (11kHz AIFF Format 259k)
Theresa Whitehill began her poetry career early, receiving an award for her writing in high school. Her first book of poetry, A Natural History of Mill Towns, was recently published by Pygmy Forest Press. Her work also appears in a variety of magazines, including Art/Life, New Settler, Yellow Silk, and the Mendocino Arts & Entertainment Magazine, and she frequently gives public readings in her home county of Mendocino.
She received her education in Book Arts at Mills College in Oakland, California. From there she went on to spend two years in Greece, studying modern Greek literature and dance. For the past fifteen years she has worked as a letterpress printer and designer, producing letterpress broadsides and computer graphic design. Her broadsides are in the collections of the following institutions: Mills College, the San Francisco Public Library, the New York Public Library, the Bancroft Library, UCLA Special Collections Library, the Los Angeles Public Library, and Brown University.
Currently Ms. Whitehill lives in Elk, on the Mendocino coast of California, where her business, Colored Horse Studio, is located. Her books and broadsides can be found at local bookstores in Mendocino and Fort Bragg.
Return to the Main Page?