April Lindner

Thanks a million to Grain : The Journal of Eclectic Writing  for including my poem, "First Egg," in their newest issue. Here's the poem:  First Egg Ghostly in the coop's half-light, pale and almost phosphorescent green, perched upright in aspen shavings. The pullet who laid it already  bathing in dust or scratching up ants. To gather its small wholeness feels like a theft but also a tenderness, close as I'll ever get to sharing a daughter's first time-- handing off thick pads, hot water bottle, the ache of knowing this will be the new regime, tidal rhythm of ripening and release, her very self swept along and shackled to a purpose.  And here's Artemesia (aka Meemee) who inspired it. She's no longer with us, but I'll always remember her, and the thrill of checking the nesting box and finding that very first egg.