I believe when I relent, Carole Ambauen, illustrator
By Carole Ambauen Like many graphic designers, Carole's work is often digital and often unsigned. It's really lovely to have a piece of her work here that's hand drawn and credited. More about her, her process and this poem, below. I believe when I relent I topple to rise up then I tower to fall. I’ve an upstart yen and an urge to surrender. At whose bidding do I cross and re-cross the hall? "I push backwards…I go forwards." —Larry Eigner. "Nothing is true that isn't paradoxical." Kathy Altman says it. I hear waves in my gyre. We are standing bubbles of wind, water and sand. Since the floor is dancing, it’s the perfect partner. Head on the ground, feet researching the air firsthand, what's down pushes up my fire, bruises my apple. "In a field / I am the absence / of field....