Klara kinman

Klara Kinman is a poet and artist from Louisville, Kentucky. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in English from Asbury University. Klara serves as the Associate Editor-In-Chief of Asbury's undergraduate literary magazine, The Asbury Review.

from dust, to dust

The dust dances in the window

of my gramma’s living room,

swimming around her

dead houseplants

and bathing in the wax

of the yankee candles

that rest on the windowsill.

I sit with my face pressed

against the warm glass.

My body communes with the sunlight

as the dust,

playful,

brushes against my cheeks.

Once I read that dust is

pieces of ourselves,

that we shed dust like snakes

shed exoskeletons.

What else is there to do with all this living?

In a lifetime,

we collect heaps of the stuff,

soft piles of our old selves

thrown out

with stained napkins

and crinkled candy wrappers.

I reach out my hand,

swirl my fingers in a circular motion,

watch the dust

rise from the windowsill,

rise from the withered christmas cactus,

rise from the cinnamon candles,

rise and become alive again,

dancing.

Read Klara’s work and more in Solum Journal Volume IV.