Lana Hechtman Ayers
Lana Hechtman Ayers, MFA, has shepherded over a hundred poetry volumes into print in her role as managing editor for three small presses. Her work appears in Rattle, The London Reader, Peregrine, and elsewhere. Lana’s ninth collection, The Autobiography of Rain, was published by Fernwood Press.
Lana is a Hedgebrook alum and holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, as well as degrees in Poetry, Psychology, and Mathematics.
2024 Jack Straw Alumni Poetry Series:
“[In The Autobiography of Rain], Lana Hechtman Ayers delves into the complex interplay of beauty and grief in the natural world. These engaging poems underscore the restorative power of art and nature, urging readers to cherish life’s simple pleasures . . . This is a captivating and poignant collection . . . a must-read . . . I could not put this gorgeous collection down.”
—Kelli Russell Agodon
After you hung up on me,
I gave the moon my cold shoulder, trembling it was,
bared that spring night I waited in shadows.
Outlines of maple leaves lifted in the breeze
like a swarm of bats.
Air scented sweet with jasmine blooming from forced
pots. I wish I had something to do with my lips, even a
cigarette,
though I failed at nicotine many times.
And wouldn’t it be a perfect metaphor to blow smoke
rings
around your absence?
I refused to go inside because if you ever did arrive,
I wanted you to see me in my beautiful new red dress,
backless and bold,
the tears in my eyes nothing more than stars.
