Emily’s poems have appeared in Chicago Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, California Quarterly, Caveat Lector, Curious Rooms, december, Hiram Poetry Review, Mockingbird, Poets On, Slant and Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal.
Reviews
“Leider is a poet of subtle shades, sometimes with haunting effect.”
“Sometimes caustic, sometimes tender personal poems from an up-and-coming poet.”
“Skilled, genuine, tender and terse all at the same time.”
Rapid Eye Movement
Difficult to look. I mean at anything, to make the eyes stay put.They want to shift, move outwherever something might be missed.The fear of missing winds us up, we’re like small go cartsset in motion by a key, with that same random energywe scan, pan, glance, turn to one sidedo anything but fix our gaze.A common cat can stare us down.In galleries eyes seek whichever picture’s not in front.They’ll watch the other people watching, catch a reflection in the glass, read titles, dates, descriptionsanything just not to look too long or hardat that fixed thing before us.Gertrude Stein, she tells us, loved to stand inside the Louvrelooking out its windows at the day’s gray sky, blown trees,whatever. As if the landscapes were escaping their gold frames,she saw them window-framed but free.In Italy she took to napping on the Pitti’s long red benches.That sleeping Buddha with eyes moving dreamedher own Castagnas, Giottos, Tintorettosas the pacing guards no doubt with jackets buttoned upwould watch her sleep, take note of some new flaking on the wall, a pretty girl, perhapsand check their watches.A wind blows within us. When it stills we become eyeless earth.
From Rapid Eye Movement & Other Poems by Emily Leider
(San Francisco: Bay Books, 1976).
