{"id":3142,"date":"2023-12-01T23:47:37","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T23:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/?page_id=3142"},"modified":"2023-12-03T05:46:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T05:46:26","slug":"sculpture-garden-by-melinda-baker","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/sculpture-garden-by-melinda-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;SCULPTURE GARDEN&#8221; by Melinda Baker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\">Clouds closed on the acreage, boxed the wind on the hill, swept my evening of obligation\nthrough the pin oaks holding fast each five-lobed soul. I paused. Three Graces had lain in a circle, framed by the lawn I\u2019d neglected to cut. The largest doe rose to dine on weeds and mushrooms that had grown around the burn pit, then returned to her bed. I realized I\u2019d never seen a deer lie down \u2013 the controlled collapse, slow motion folding onto her front legs first. She did not sit, but gently dove into her imprint. Another stood and wandered off to browse on Parasols and Lambsquarters. Aglaia and Thalia shifted hind to hind like a bird drawn by children. Then, it was my turn to stand and go, but I was loath to break our threesome. Finally, sunset spread a golden death over the treetops; leaves instantly yellowed, as if frostbit. One vulture flapped high above us, made uneasy by such large prey.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:100px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Melinda Baker<\/strong> received her Master of Arts in English, with a Concentration in Creative Writing, from Wayne State University in 2021. Her work has appeared in\u00a0<em>The Midwest Quarterly,\u00a0The Lyric, the\u00a0Dunes Review,\u00a0poets.org,\u00a0The Gateway Review<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<em>The Lakeshore Review<\/em>.\u00a0She now teaches ballet in Traverse City, Michigan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clouds closed on the acreage, boxed the wind on the hill, swept my evening of obligation through the pin oaks holding fast each five-lobed soul. I paused. Three Graces had lain in a circle, framed by the lawn I\u2019d neglected to cut. The largest doe rose to dine on weeds and mushrooms that had grown &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/sculpture-garden-by-melinda-baker\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8220;SCULPTURE GARDEN&#8221; by Melinda Baker&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2310,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3142","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3142"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3142\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/oxmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}