Betsy Fogelman Tighe
Triptych
after Alicia Ostricker, Tulip, Dog, Old Women
To be blessed,
said the old electrician
is to see sparks and not
fear them, to stand out
of the way, or in them,
showered by light,
lit from without, within.
To be blessed
said the corn plant
swaying in a slight wind
is to know that your feet
can stand to get wet
and your hair not rot,
your kernels still plump.
To be blessed
said the aging cat
curled on her bed
is to sleep with both eyes
closed, tail tucked,
lights on or off,
no matter.
Congratulations to Betsy Fogelman Tighe for this Pushcart Prize winning poem!
Betsy Fogelman Tighe has published widely in literary magazines, including TriQuarterly, for which she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and twice in Rattle, for whom she traveled to LA to read. She has won a third place and a first place prize from the Oregon Poetry Association. Her full-length manuscript has been semi-finalist for the Snake Nation Press Violet Reed Haas Poetry Prize and the Hidden Rivers Willow Run Book Award. She retired in 2022 from her good work as a teacher-librarian in Portland, OR where she also pays some notice to her garden, and values the presence of two young adult children.