a promise of water
from the archive
From Editorial Intern Erin Peters: We’re excited to share this online collection, A Promise of Water with you. This collection is the product of a semester-long internship with Hayden’s Ferry Review during which I journeyed into the past issues of the magazine. In my exploration of these archives, I searched for the poems that have kept our publication close to its namesake—the Hayden’s Ferry.
The Hayden’s Ferry first traveled across the Salt River in Tempe, Arizona in 1871. The Salt River was once a large, uncontrolled flow of water through the city, but is now a body of water no more than four-hundred yards wide. When I began my search through the sixty-eight issues of HFR, I wanted to find poems that incorporated water as a central focus either literally or metaphorically. I hoped to find passionate homages to water—both love letters and elegies. What I discovered were poems that depicted the many personas of water: its violence, mystery, peace, and companionship.
I want to thank all of the poets who are included in this collection for the honesty that exists in their work. I also want to thank HFR’s Senior Editor, Susan Nguyen, for allowing me to dedicate a semester to the creation of this collection. We are moving into a time where the human relationship with nature is more important than ever. These poets, whether intentionally or not, have started vital conversations about the environment; about what is owed, and to whom. I hope you will enjoy this archival collection of poems published from 1986 - 2011 and be inspired to consider your own connections to the natural world as you read the work of these talented poets.
a promise of water
“Across the Line” by Peggy Shumaker
“Midnight Ivory” by Mary Ruefle
“These Many Tricks” by Deirdre O’Connor
“The Crossing” by Jane Satterfield
“The Ceremony of Peyote” by Margo Tamez
“Losing a Memory” by Jon Pineda
“The Eyes of the Scallops” by Ralph Sneeden
“There Are Other Views That Open Me,” by Laura Didyk
“Questiones—Of Water and Salt” by Sally Ball
“The End of Fathers” by Danielle Cadena Deulen
“The Bridge and the Blue Chair” by Oliver De La Paz
“Migration” by Jasmine V. Bailey
“The People of the Book” by Kazim Ali
Note: The art for this collection is from Cynaotypes of Birtish Algae by Anna Atkins. The title for this collection, “A Promise of Water,” comes from Danielle Cadena Deulen’s poem, “The End of Fathers.”
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Erin Peters is a graduate student studying creative writing at Arizona State University. She serves as an Associate Poetry Editor at Hayden’s Ferry Review and is a Media Coordinator for the Narrative Storytelling Initiative within ASU’s Global Futures Laboratory.