August 2015
I have published two books of poetry, The Ninety-Third Name of God and I Watched You Disappear, both from the Louisiana State University Press. I was just honored to be named Georgia Author of the Year/Poetry for I Watched You Disappear. My forthcoming book, From Nothing, will be published by LSU in 2016. I am an English professor at Mercer University and live in beautiful downtown Macon, Georgia, with my husband, son, and dog. You can find me at www.anyasilverpoet.com.
Doing Laundry in Budapest
The dryer, uniform and squat as a biscuit tin,
came to life and turned on me its insect eye.
My t-shirts and underwear crackled and leapt.
I was a tourist there; I didn’t speak the language.
My shoulders covered themselves up in churches,
my tongue soothed its burn with slices of pickle.
More I don’t remember: only, weekends now
when I stand in the kitchen, sorting sweat pants
and pairing socks, I remember the afternoon
I did my laundry in Budapest, where the sidewalks
bloomed with embroidered linen, where money
wasn’t permitted to leave the country.
When I close my eyes, I recall that spinning,
then a woman, with nothing else to sell,
pressing wilted flowers in my hands.
-first published in I Watched You Disappear: Poems (Louisiana State Univ. Press, 2014)
©2015 Anya Silver