She was reading
"In Watermelon Sugar"
when rain carried her back
from the days of grass and pills
when she was blonde and braless
playing frisbee with some guy

in the park. She is alone now,
wondering why she turned from woman
back into girl, bottle-bleached and breastless.

All out of wit from effort to be normal,
the eyes of the young, pretty nurse
follow her as if she is controversial,
an exhibit in the modern art museum -
a thing- off plumb and compelling,
no one wants to get caught staring

The girl could have been her daughter,
the one she decided not to have.

Shann Palmer is a Texan living in Virginia with her husband and children. She has published poetry most recently in The Melic Review, Miller's Pond, and Wicked Alice. She has a calendar at About.com for poetry events in Virginia/DC/Maryland (http://poetry.about.com) and hosts poetry readings and workshops in Central Virginia.

E-mail Shann Palmer at
shannp@sprynet.com

Other poems

[ BABY BY NIGHT LIGHT ] [ MOTHERS' HANDS ] [ DETAILS ] [ PINK RIBBONS FOR JANET ] [ GIRLS WHO DO NOT GO TO THE FAMILY ]

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