Gently I approach.
He’s there again,
standing at pond’s edge,
blazing yellow eyes
gazing at me,
pulling my image
into his world.
I receive his splendid form
with eyes full of gratitude—
the blessing now complete.
Lynn Hoggard received her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Southern
California and taught at Midwestern State University, where she was professor of English and French and the coordinator of humanities. In 2003, the Texas Institute of Letters awarded her the Soeurette Diehl Fraser award for best translation. Her poem “Love in the Desert” was nominated for the 2017 Pushcart Prize by Word Fountain, and her books, Bushwhacking Home (TCU Press, 2017), and First Light (Lamar University Press, 2022) won the 2018 and the 2023, respectively) Press Women of Texas awards for best book of poetry. Her poem “In the Garden” was nominated for the 2018 Sundress Best of the Net award.