Manifesto

Laura Minor

for Nina Cassian

For those who live in the twisted nightgown of stars
For the hunger they sate with their hands
For those who have never seen the ocean--
I am the whisper: love whomever you want.

For women who fall in the dark and lift with dawn
For children biting their lips in the sand
For the warm temples of soldiers at dusk--
I am the ear of God.

For the devils that sing in the prisoner’s ear
For the birds that eat in the morning
The eyes of men dying in the sun
I am a cheerleader for your funeral,
A cheerleader whose hair falls around you,
Whose hair falls around you
On the floor.


Listen to Laura read the poem here:

Working notes

I used to own a copy of Cheerleader for a Funeral by Nina Cassian. I was upset one day, leaving a lover's house, and I left it on a newsstand when I went to get a paper. I suppose I could say I was a cheerleader from a football family in the south, but it really came from the compassion I was feeling for the returning soldiers. I often use the images from my childhood mixed with what I am feeling at that moment. And it was a combination of grief, compassion, and a remnant of the sexuality floating in the air that day. Nina Cassian's imagery had a comforting effect on me and I wanted to make it a part of my poetry. 

About the author

Laura Minor is a Brooklyn-based poet, professor at the Pratt Institute, and singer/songwriter. Her work has most recently appeared in Dead Mule School of Poetry, Sixers Review, Lungfull, JMWW: A Journal of Quarterly Writing, and Mantis/Stanford University. She has released two critically-acclaimed records, and is currently working on a third record, forthcoming in Winter 2013. And she is currently working on a debut collection of short stories. 


For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author's contributor page. 

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