Amy Gerstler: California Poets Part 10, One Poem

Amy Gerstler

April 2nd, 2026

California Poets: Part X

Amy Gerstler

One Poem

Nostalgia

You find yourself wearing clean clothes

from childhood. The sky clears, bathing the sun

in true-blueness. The lake changes shape.

Its beach sand glitters blindly. Strong winds ruffle

the lake, stir up images of canoes and piney islands.

Fish mumble complaints. Crustaceans' remains

crunch underfoot. Bright white loaf-sized

stones, visible after dark, mark the beach path.

The peculiar illness you suffered from begins to lift.

Your family disowned you by scribbling insults

on greeting cards. After that you felt blurry and light.

Something grabs at your ankles from between trees

near shore. You're welcome to shelter here if you like.

It's a nice place to hide if you crave a little solitude.

Author Bio:

Amy Gerstler's most recent book of poems is IS THIS MY FINAL FORM (Penguin Random House, April, 2025). Her work has appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, including the New Yorker, The Atlantic Magazine and Paris Review. In 2019, she received a Foundation for Contemporary Arts CD Wright Grant. In 2018, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. In addition to poetry she writes plays, journalism and art criticism.