Iowa Writes

CURTIS BAUER
Landscape: Galicia with Two Figures


There is a church,
there are women
sitting in a circle
making gossip and lace.

The waves welcome then
turn us away.

There are always clacking hammers
in the distance, gulls and salt in the air
outside the bars
where we share cafe con leche
while boys play
a football match the future
of the world depends upon. Somewhere

in this I became the man who took
the hand of the woman you became,
a loaf of bread under his arm, in her hand
empanada wrapped perfectly by a woman
who left her shop to watch them walk away.

About Iowa Writes

Since 2006, "Iowa Writes" has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers on The Daily Palette, and it has recently expanded its scope to include work published by Iowa journals and publishers. Curated by the staff of The Iowa Review, "Iowa Writes" features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction several times a week on the Palette. In November, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.

Find out more about submitting at iowawrites.org


CURTIS BAUER

Curtis Bauer earned his B.A. from Central College, in Pella, IA, and London, England; and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, NY. After several years based alternately in Mexico, Spain, and Iowa City, he now teaches Creative Writing at Texas Tech University. This poem is from Bauer's collection Fence Line (BkMk Press, 2003), which won the 2003 John Ciardi Poetry Prize.

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on March 17, 2006

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