ODE TO KNOWING
The orchard in my childhood: apple,
pear, cherry I fell from—and a plum tree
neglected every spring, a jelly fungus
taking the purple fruit. No soft plums
in the fridge. There was so much
I thought I could not have; obedience
I had to give. My child body, bruised.
My heart: kept like an abandoned fruit
tree, or a goat to a tether. I did not buck.
I did not bite. I stood in the long grasses.
I’ve since learned that a child cannot
provide. That fruit and animals both
need tending hands—hold me, comb me,
were words that for years I could not
say. But now I feel the wisteria around
my thighs. The landscape curls with relief.
There is ripe fruit in the shape of your mouth.
ABOUT THE POET
Han VanderHart is a queer writer living in Durham, NC, under the pines. Their
second poetry collection, Larks (Ohio University Press, 2025), was selected by
Chanda Feldman as winner of the 2024 Hollis Summers Poetry Prize. Han is also
the author of What Pecan Light (Bull City Press, 2021) and has essays and poetry
published in Kenyon Review, The American Poetry Review, The Rumpus, AGNI,
and elsewhere. Han hosts Of Poetry Podcast and, alongside Amorak Huey, coedits
the poetry press River River Books.
ABOUT SUGAR HOUSE REVIEW
We loved reading the work that we’ve published (clearly), and we want an
opportunity to better hear our contributors. We're featuring audio recordings of
poems from our pages, read by the poet. This an open invitation to all contributors
from any of our issues, we were delighted to print your work, now we’re eager to
hear it.
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