Queer Poem-a-Day is a program from the Adult Services Department at the Library and may include adult language.
pêche d’enfer
by p. hodges adams
there should be fruit in hell, if only for the sake of rot.
what if the point isn’t darkness and deprivation,
but a lingering unease. slim sunday afternoon,
the light a touch too thin, slightly dizzy…
when i was abroad hunger was something i owned
rather than felt. it never fit in my suitcase or stomach.
and all summer i chewed my mistranslations:
………….i am a peach of hell.
…………………….i am a piece of hell.
………………………………..i am at peace with hell.
Copyright © 2022 by p. hodges adams. This poem was originally published in New Orleans Review (2022).
About the Author
p. hodges adams is a michigander poet who received their MFA in creative writing from the university of virginia, where they currently teach as a lecturer. their work can be found in cutbank, fourteen poems, december magazine, and elsewhere. hopefully they will turn into a beam of sunlight someday soon.
Queer Poem a Day
Queer Poem-a-Day is directed by poet and professor Lisa Hiton and Dylan Zavagno, Adult Services Coordinator at the Deerfield Public Library. Music for this fourth year of our series is from the second movement of the “Geistinger Sonata,” Piano Sonata No. 2 in C Sharp Minor by Ethel Smyth, performed by pianist Daniel Baer. Queer Poem-a-Day is supported by generous donations from the Friends of the Deerfield Public Library and the Deerfield Fine Arts Commission.
