Via Negativa
Constance Hansen
Pin-prick of emptiness
in wet sand
marks a clam’s breath
Hands cupped
defined by what
they cannot maintain
Children mine
puncture the balloons
kelp grows to bring
the sun near enough
its dancing blades
—What’s inside?
—Nothing
They chime
Nothing Just the thing
without which
we’d be gasping for light
Constance Hansen is Managing Editor of Poetry Northwest. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in: RHINO, Harvard Review, Southern Humanities Review, Four Way Review, The Cortland Review, Cimarron Review, Northwest Review, Vallum, Superstition Review, and elsewhere. Originally from Seattle, she lives in Paris. You may learn more at www.constancehansen.com.