“Pulse” & “Forbearance” published in Issue 30 of Damselfly Press

Below is an excerpt from my latest publication in Damselfly Press‘s issue 30–my poem titled “Pulse” that is set to appear in my next collection, The Starling’s Song (2015)

PULSE

Listen to the Poem

Eating blue mussels

from the perfect domes

of their shells, you twist

a slice of orange into

the foam of your beer.

We argue over the height

of the bridge above the

Noyo River. The water

is like concrete, you say.

I believe someone would

survive. As if I had yielded,

I sat silently regarding

a woman’s leap from

the Golden Gate, the

monstrous voice that

told her to jump. From

across the table, you

place your hand on mine.

I feel the wild coursing

of your pulse, the proof

of our lives in our hands.

* * *

Bri Bruce is an editor, graphic designer, and publisher from Santa Cruz, California. With a bachelor’s degree in writing from UC Santa Cruz, her work has previously appeared in The Sun Magazine, The Soundings Review, and The Monterey Poetry Review, among others. Bruce is the award-winning author of The Weight of Snow.