• Marjorie Tesser’s poetry collection, Unquiet, is forthcoming in 2027 from Cornerstone Press. She authored poetry chapbooks The Important Thing Is, a Firewheel Award winner, and The Magic Feather. The recipient of a prize from Academy of American Poets, Marjorie co-edited three anthologies and is editor of MER-Mom Egg Review.

Piece of Work

I have of late—but / wherefore I know not—lost all my mirth...

—Hamlet

I read the news and wonder—are we ape,
angel, or some unstable mix?

I write a poem, write a check,
each of as great and as little effect.

Every blue tweet, each positive act
I note breaks through the miasma

like a beacon, a star. The little lights keep me
from succumbing to deepening dark.

Jane Goodall’s life was led by love—
first, for her parents, then her dogs,

then the chimps at Gombe, so like us,
she discovered, with their senses of humor,

their clans, their clever use of tools,
ability to share. She dedicated her life

to them, these brothers with more hair.
Imagine her dismay when a mother

ate her infant, when males attacked
the smaller and weak, vicious to the death.

When she saw they were as awful
as we, Jane didn’t falter,

remained their champion, fierce
in her commitment to their care.

How much love was required for that—
love for those most to be scorned—

how much might we muster,
while still sparking lights of our own?