Janna Knittel

Collecting Against Loss

Conifer cones
arranged from egg-sized
to almond.

Two oval stones
my mother painted
as iridescent insects.

Quail feather
she found on the farm
and mailed to me, enfolded in tissue.

Seashells and polished rocks
bought during childhood
beach trips.

Walnut shell half.
Two tiny acorns:
One wearing its hat,
one bald.

Piano music I never play:
Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude,”
Grieg’s “Butterfly.”

My late sister’s books:
One more copy of Jane Eyre
I didn’t need,

but the plane ticket
she used as bookmark
made her real again.

Keys to lost padlocks.
Photos of people
I never talk to.

Vintage wool coat
I’m scared to wear,
its red satin lining already torn.

The last item my mother sent
before evening mantled her mind:
Hospital bracelet from the day I was born.

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Janna Knittel is the author of Real Work (Nodin, 2022), a finalist for the 2023 Minnesota Book Award in poetry, and the chapbook Fish & Wild Life (Finishing Line, 2018). In addition to several journals, Janna has also published poems in the following anthologies: Blue, A Humana Obscura Anthology (2025); The Experiment Will Not Be Bound (Unbound Edition, 2023); Broad Wings, Long Legs: A Rookery of Heron Poems (North Star, 2024); and Waters Deep: A Great Lakes Anthology (Split Rock, 2018).