Teresa's first book of poetry, In What Furnace, was published in 1997 and contained poems she wrote between age twelve and forty-five.

Mountain Climbing

small enough to
make a giant of my hand
light enough to mail
with a few postage stamps

these kittens
scale the long smooth face
of my leg, ankle to calf

& pitch camp on the treacherous
plateau of my knee

the blue half-moons of my eyes
pulse over them

they try to climb the tangled
ropes of my hair
chestnut tendrils damp & fair

their tiny breath
is white
in this cold steep air.