{"id":309712,"date":"2026-04-22T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T11:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/?p=309712"},"modified":"2026-04-15T14:11:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:11:06","slug":"two-more-poems-by-abbie-kiefer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/two-more-poems-by-abbie-kiefer\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fragile Pride of the Displaced New Englander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Away in Tampa<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">I was there in the cheap seats when the man with Boston <br>on his back tackled the giant bug. A shaded skyline that enfolded <br> <br>his shoulders, revealed when he frenzied his shirt over his head <br>after Nathan Horton scored in the second\u2014the Ontarian <br> <br>dispatching the puck so absolutely the net was compelled <br>to take it in. As if to make something belong, you hack hard as you can. <br> <br>From the terrace level I cheered too\u2014not for the goal but to make <br>myself known. Displaced New Englanders never stop needing <br><br>to tell you where they\u2019re from. The bug was from Tampa\u2014a woman <br>named Kelly in a 10-foot foam exoskeleton who silly-stringed a man <br> <br>when his team was down and away from home. So fervent for a city <br>he needled it under his skin. As security walked him out, he spiked <br> <br>a finger in her face\u2014not Kelly\u2019s but the bug\u2019s, with the unwatching <br>eyes\u2014and snarled as the crowd cheered his ejection. Hockey <br> <br>gets violent. Players brawl. The refs allow it, the us-and-them-ing, <br>and we take it for camaraderie: the refs, and the fans, and even me, <br> <br>indifferent to the game but not the need. Even Kelly, though it cost her <br>the job. Now she lives in Chicago, custom-crafting mascot costumes <br><br>designed to ride light on one's frame, and all machine washable.<br>Horton eventually got traded to Toronto, never leaving<br> <br>the injured list, but I hope Canada consoled him. The Bruins took <br>their loss and headed north, same as we would later that year, <br><br>in a U-Haul heavy with everything. The tattooed man lives forever <br>in a video online. In my memory, I\u2019m right across the aisle, close enough <br><br>to hear him scream <em>Stanley Cup<\/em> into the bug\u2019s meshed mouth. <br>But I\u2019ve watched the clip a dozen times and I\u2019m nowhere to be found.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Self-Portrait with Vermont Forge\u2019s Heirloom Weeder<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-preformatted\">that I bought online one night, unable to sleep<br>and again intent on wresting order <br>from the mess. On uprooting <br>clover\u2014even the four-leaf. I don\u2019t believe <br><br>in luck, maybe because I\u2019ve mostly had it. I do <br>believe in knuckling down. <br>Yesterday, I potted the sprouted pit of a stone <br>fruit I pulled from the compost. <br><br>I\u2019ll overwinter it in the basement <br>where I can fret about its chances every time<br>I run on the treadmill. <br>Exercise is supposed to be good for sleep. <br><br>And lavender, though I cut mine back <br>too hard and it\u2019s not pulling <br>through. I wish the garden gave me more<br>time to make good. Five months if I\u2019m lucky\u2014<br><br>not that luck exists. Episcopalians <br>have prayers for the <em>Natural Order<\/em>, <br>praising the God who fills all living things <br>with plenteousness <br><br>and I consider my plenty and if I\u2019d make a good<br>Episcopalian and what else might be available<br>at Vermont Forge, <br>what other instruments they make <br><br>that could help me. Because in order<br>to endure, clover can\u2019t be anything<br>but persistent\u2014<br>like the faithful, reciting the words of St. Francis, <br><br>who is said to have left his garden<br>wild at the edges and who begged of his God: <br><em>Make me an instrument <br>of peace.<\/em><\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Away in Tampa I was there in the cheap seats when the man with Boston on his back tackled the giant bug. A shaded skyline that enfolded his shoulders, revealed when he frenzied his shirt over his head after Nathan Horton scored in the second\u2014the Ontarian dispatching the puck so absolutely the net was compelled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1546,"featured_media":309714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5557,5561,5966],"tags":[205,547,148,121,5669,384],"class_list":["post-309712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lit-mags","category-the-commuter","category-poetry","tag-environment","tag-home","tag-masculinity","tag-religion","tag-scandals","tag-sports"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - 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