The most beautiful thing about my car is the beach, and the most beautiful thing about the beach is watercolor, and the most beautiful thing about water is the word, and the most beautiful thing about the word is pigment, and the most beautiful thing about pigment is the soil, and the most beautiful thing about soil is the earth, and the most beautiful thing about the earth is the sea, and the most beautiful thing about the sea is the drive.
Elaine Sexton’s third collection of poetry is Prospect/Refuse (Sheep Meadow Press). Her poems, reviews, and visual art have appeared or are forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Five Points, Poetry, Plume, ARTnews, On the Seawall, and O! the Oprah Magazine. She is a member of the faculty of the Sarah Lawrence College Writing Institute, and teaches poetry and text and image at various art and writing centers in the U.S. and abroad. www.elainesexton.org
This June 3rd snapshot with picket fence suggests just how far reaching the impact of the killing of George Floyd has been. The coastal village in this photograph is the setting for [drive], which is also the title of my just completed manuscript. Everything written prior to 2020 seems to register differently now, and this poem is no exception, with a heightened awareness of solitude, and the privilege embedded there.
