Youth in West-End Summer, 1990s I remember summer heat rising like invisible smokelatching on my skin as I walked four blocks to Atkinsonpool for lessons. I remember moisture chaffingmy thighs, wicking in my crotch, blue-one-piece-bathingsuit discomfort, polyester pressure. I remember the concretedeck, rough under my knees as I leaned over a half-nakedboy pretending to be… Continue reading POEM A DAY – July 2 & Launch Gallery
Tag: mourning
First Official Book Review for We the Mourners! FIVE STARS
Super thank you to the Literary Titan family for reading and reviewing We the Mourners! Here is the full five-star review! LINK HERE FOR MORE REVIEWS OF OTHER BOOKS! We the Mourners, by Vanessa Shields, is a poetry collection about grief, love, embodiment, and the strange communal work of surviving loss. Built around the repeated… Continue reading First Official Book Review for We the Mourners! FIVE STARS
Poem 5 – We the Mourners
Stanza five! Look alive! We the Mourners We the mournersroam the landa planet-sized graveyardwitnessing the body as tombstoneinclined toward the sharp knife ofLove’s lapidarian urgesetching Time woundsinto our skin –urging the most tears We the mournersswallow the sour spacesbetween right & wrongholding the knowledgeof their folly – fools aliveenough to write songspoems plays paintingsin the… Continue reading Poem 5 – We the Mourners
VANESSA SHIELDS 