let this be prearranged now / between us, while we are still peoples:

—Mary Ruefle

When
we have follied
this world apart,
broken every
bird, harvested
the last grain
of rice,

know that I
have hidden
for you, a small
fortune, buried
in the garden,
obscured by
a leaf.

Find
there one
perfect apple.
Secret this wealth
beneath your rags,
carry it near rib
and skin.

Look for
me. If you don’t
see me in rubble,
despair, throw
this orb high
as humanly
possible.

Publisher’s Notes:

Epigraph is from “Kiss of the Sun,” which appears in Mary Ruefle’s tenth book of poems, Indeed I Was Pleased with the World (Carnegie Mellon University Press 2007).

We’re pleased and proud to be the first to publish Ms. Himmelman’s poetry. And we look forward to presenting more of her work in future issues.

Maria Himmelman

Having launched her fourth and final child into the world, poet Maria Himmelman is now launching herself. She lives in Los Angeles.