In it in the smell of Spring’s breezy exhalation:my anxious youth track meets where I hid under the bleachers and criedclassrooms wet with stifled heat and math I didn’t understandteachers who understood my passion for wordsthe wobbly possibility of a lunch-hour romancethe first time I shaved my legs brown hairs curling down the tub drain… Continue reading Poem 141 – In it & more
Poem 140 – Startling Truths
Startling Truths you can thinkwhat do I do with all this truth?as your hands instinctively openpalms up – like it’s holdable the truth can be startlingan undoing, evenwhen you discover itsstaggering volume you can fall to your kneestear out grass orpinch your thigh &cry-whisper: is this truly so? the truth answers in morning dew’s cheekon sparrow’s… Continue reading Poem 140 – Startling Truths
Poem 139 – occupation
occupation it is migratorythe curiositytucking under a lymph nodecamping in a shoulder bladeclimbing a femurbut when it unpacksright down to its delicateswrites a rent chequebuys groceriesit removes its skin & shows itstrue self: sadness with bulging eyes for weepinghands oversized like porcelain pasta bowlsfilled with unanswered questionshow did this happen?how long will it last? do you… Continue reading Poem 139 – occupation
VANESSA SHIELDS 