{"id":3120,"date":"2024-09-24T16:55:22","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T20:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/2026June\/?page_id=3120"},"modified":"2024-09-24T16:55:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-24T20:55:22","slug":"issue-17-poetry-arnold","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thepetigrureview.com\/2627\/issue-17-poetry-arnold\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting Jenny"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Kelly Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Widener Valley springtime, blue ridgeline blanketing horizon, sky the shade of solace, sprawling clouds, rolling green hills and fields for miles.\u00a0 It\u2019s gorgeous here\u2013an ideal couch for eternal slumber.\u00a0 I scrub sides of small gray stone, tend the grave of two women I\u2019ve never met, who died before I was even born, the sponge in my hand, an offering, my movements, ritual.\u00a0 Daughter in law kneeling to receive muddy benediction.\u00a0 Jenny\u2019s an enigma-mama, initials branded into my father in law\u2019s leathered arm (the only wife he\u2019d actually loved, he claimed), flawless arch of her eyebrows appearing when my daughter registers surprise; her son shares my life and my bed, but she lives only in photos, nestled next to her mother in this corner of a burying ground in the shadow of Whitetop Mountain, hills we\u2019ve come back to to build something new from the ashes of something scarred, believing we might transform a childhood of hurt and loss board by board\u2014perhaps prayers are more potent in Damascus and we will wipe the sorrow and sadness that has slept like moss on this rock, carve a life of river stone and laughter, leaving only flowers in her stead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Kelly White Arnold is a mom, writer, teacher, and lover of yoga. Her work recently appeared or is forthcoming in Walter, theengine(idling, Last Leaves<\/em> and Pinesong 2024<\/em>. When she’s not scribbling in notebooks or wrangling teenagers, she’s planning her next tattoo and daydreaming about traveling the world. Find her on social media @KArnoldTeaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Kelly Arnold Widener Valley springtime, blue ridgeline blanketing horizon, sky the shade of solace, sprawling clouds, rolling green hills and fields for miles.\u00a0 It\u2019s gorgeous here\u2013an ideal couch for eternal slumber.\u00a0 I scrub sides of small gray stone, tend the grave of two women I\u2019ve never met, who died before I was even born, the sponge in my hand, an offering, my movements, ritual.\u00a0 Daughter in law kneeling to receive muddy benediction.\u00a0 Jenny\u2019s an enigma-mama, initials branded into my father in law\u2019s leathered arm (the only wife he\u2019d actually loved, he claimed), flawless arch of her eyebrows appearing when my daughter registers surprise; her son shares my life and my bed, but she lives only in photos, nestled next to her mother in this corner of a burying ground in the shadow of Whitetop Mountain, hills we\u2019ve come back to to build something new from the ashes of something scarred, believing we might transform a childhood of hurt and loss board by board\u2014perhaps prayers are more potent in Damascus and we will wipe the sorrow and sadness that has slept like moss on this rock, carve a life of river stone and laughter, leaving only flowers in her stead.\u00a0 Kelly White Arnold is a mom, writer, teacher, and lover of yoga. Her work recently appeared or is forthcoming in Walter, theengine(idling, Last Leaves and Pinesong 2024. When she’s not scribbling in notebooks or wrangling teenagers, she’s planning her next tattoo and daydreaming about traveling the world. Find her on social media @KArnoldTeaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3120","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t