Crushed by the many cloaks
men made her wear
Truth stumbled
for the woods, shedding
one heavy mantle and another
like skins of beasts
until a shadow of flesh
among still foliage. I ran
into the trees, past Actaeon, his
hounds who devour him
when he grows antlers. With
turned head I found her
there and unchanged I stood
beside her by the water. I asked
and she showed me a path
to take, years ago, raising
a hand as beautiful as
her face must be.
About the Poet
Nels Hanson’s fiction received the San Francisco Foundation’s James D. Phelan Award and Pushcart nominations in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. His poems received a 2014 Pushcart nomination, Sharkpack Review’s 2014 Prospero Prize, and 2015 and 2016 Best of the Net nominations.
For the first time in nearly five years, Vita Brevis is closed for submission. Read the full story here.
Vita Brevis Press. 