April is the cruelest national poetry month

[carose59]

Fragment: in the morning

First she put on her left sock,
then her left earring, then her left shoe.

If there was a better way to start the day, she hadn't found it.

Then she put on her right sock--but not her right earring.
Instead she fastened a delicate silver chain around her neck, the one that tethered her to her life.

Then her right earring,
and finally, the right shoe.

After that the tokens and trinkets she carried were divvied up between her two pockets. They had no assigned places, and sometimes they got lost.

Finally she clipped the proof of her identity to her shirt.
Its official purpose was to tell the world who she was,

but she found it comforting to know that
if she was in doubt
she could look down
any time
and see.

Comments

[natashasolten.livejournal.com]

I love this!

Just want you to know I appreciate your poetry.

I am aware of Natl. Poetry Month and subscribe to Knopf's "poem-a-day" series that comes every April.

From a fellow poet.