Poem: Wild Thing
from our poet of the month, Amanda Torroni
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The poems and prose in Amanda Torroni's new book, Stargazing at Noon, unfold in moon phases, beginning with a fullness, then purging. This poem, Wild Thing, is from the full moon phase.
“I'm an emotional writer. I don't write because I feel compelled to create; I write because it's how I process my experience of the world. I share that work because I don't want anyone else to feel as alone as I did in those moments, whether in joy or in pain. This book is a collection of that processing, that spectrum. The poems and prose unfold in moon phases, beginning with a fullness, then purging. The final chapter boasts a new moon, but rather than representing what is empty, it symbolizes what is brand new, still on the verge of becoming. In the same way a moon phases, certain themes cycle throughout the chapters, each visit showing us a different angle, different view.” —Amanda Torroni
WILD THING
It is not a stretch to say
your eyes are satellites,
drawing everything in with cosmic light
& sparkling curiosity.
Last night you were
the littlest cowboy,
lassoing fireflies
& kicking up stardust
wherever you jumped.
This morning you were
the tiniest lion man,
flipping your golden mane
from side to side
& roaring with delight.
Tomorrow you will be
no small wonder,
a wild thing stomping
footprints into the heart
of anyone who is watching.
Listen in as Amanda Torroni reads Wild Thing:
From Stargazing at Noon, copyright © 2019 by Amanda Torroni. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews.
About the Author
Amanda Torroni is a graduate of the honors college at the College of Charleston, where she studied philosophy. Her creative writing career started while studying abroad in Rome, and since then she’s self-published six books,...
