Luck Knowledge
(listen to the poem, read by Diane R. Wiener)
Learn from things in your everyday life, for instance, the
unglued top and bottom of a tuna
can: pour an egg into the circle of the can, spray your pan with PAM,
keep stirring, and when it’s time, flip
knob of the yolk, cook and stir some more,
now, whether you have vision or not,
on your plate rests one perfectly fried egg. In case you’re
wondering about this topic, I was there to
learn how to sew a seam,
eventually, how to rip a seam.
Don’t laugh: how to fix my face, how to
go to a job interview and
endless lists of things I either used, didn’t use, or forgot.
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About the Author
Mary McGinnis, blind since birth, has been writing and living in New Mexico since 1972 where she has connected with emptiness, desert, and mountains. Published in over 80 magazines and anthologies, she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has three full length collections: Listening for Cactus (1996), October Again (2008), See with Your Whole Body (2016), and a chapbook, Breath of Willow, published by Lummox for winning the poetry contest in 2017. Mary frequently offers poetry readings and writing workshops in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.