Jaydn DeWald
Winter 2025 | Poetry
O Veiled Conductor
once upon a time you were not our mother
framed in the window we passed at dusk-
light / our green shadow between us
an alto sax projected star-notes / in mid-orbit rose
to meet you loosely kimonoed through
mist & cheatgrass / the brass albatross
cheek to cheek we passed your arms up-
lifted under which the music
surged through us chordless O veiled conductor / dream
spellcaster were we not your mothers
darkness absent in mid-orbit arms &
no wind / our green shadow lips like oranges
torn from branches loosely kimonoed
projected star-notes / we framed in the window
dusk-light crescendoed once upon a time
Jaydn DeWald (he/they) is the author of two books, The Rosebud Variations and Sheets of Sound, both from Broken Sleep Books, as well as several limited-edition chapbooks including A Love Supreme, winner of the 2019 Quarterly West Chapbook Contest. They are Associate Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Piedmont University in Demorest, Georgia, and serve as managing editor for COMP: an interdisciplinary journal.