Closet The doorless shared bedroom at the evil step-dad’s house had a long, wide closet. I went into it like it was my private apartment. A carpeted, one-room sanctuary, clothes-roofed, shoes pushed aside like bricks. I hauled in chapter books, markers, crayons, stickers, Hilroys in soft hued-yellows, blues. The pillow, heart-cased, from my top-bunk bed,… Continue reading POEM A DAY – July 18
Category: On Writing
POEM A DAY – July 17
The Under I remember crawling under the dining room tableafter Sunday lunch. Sitting cross-legged in a forestof feet. Jagged bones. Painted nails. Subtle scentsvinegar and cheese. The ends of bodies stacked orrubbing carpet or yanked back when I touched…I liked the solitary space. The singularity of my smallthoughts wrapping the under like a sock. Not… Continue reading POEM A DAY – July 17
POEM A DAY – July 16
Alongside the tenor of shame(quote from Itinerant Cat Lady, Lynette Adams, July 12, Vocales and Itinerary Changes, Substack) this tenor of shame shapeshifts into a tangible obelisk beside me like a tentative bully: I think itwants to be my friend after it rages. we have common groundingin our relentlessness, our resilience for survival. neither of us… Continue reading POEM A DAY – July 16
VANESSA SHIELDS 