New Poets of the American West (Many Voices Press, 550 pages, $24) is a new poetry anthology edited by Lowell Jaeger, author of four collections of poetry and teacher of creative writing at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell. The anthology includes 450 poems by 265 poets from eleven western states. Today we feature the work of two Montana poets, Chokecherries by Melissa Kwasny and Every Bit Helps by Ed Chaberek.
Chokecherries
by Melissa Kwasny
The Crow call this time of year the Black Cherry Moon
when the rose hips are blood-bright,
spattered on their overwrought stems, and the creek
calls so clearly in words almost our own
as we come sliding down the bank.
