Jeri Theriault

Bone Church 

Kutna Hora 2002

Something from nothing.

Something from what’s left—

long-fingered hand  

many-boned foot  

hint of a jaw so

surprised it drops

its os  ossis   Oh   Latin

for bone   heartwood  or stone

prayer. We are all hard

at the core   seeds

for such as the Sedlec Ossuary   

oasis so cool  

the sunshine draws us out

to thaw in the stone square. 

Jeri Theriault’s poetry collections include Radost, my red (Moon Pie Press) and In the Museum of Surrender, first place winner of the 2013 Encircle Chapbook Contest. She is the editor of WAIT: Poems from the Pandemic (Littoral Books). Her poems and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in journals such as The Rumpus, The Texas Review, The New Ohio Review, and Plume. A Fulbright recipient and three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she won the 2022 NORward Prize (New Ohio Review) and a 2019 Maine Literary Award for poetry. Jeri spent six years of her teaching career as English Department Chair at the International School of Prague, and now lives in South Portland, Maine.

Learn more about Jeri at www.jeritheriault.com