2 Poems
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Snowbound
The stomach determines
contentment or distress –
that pouch behind the ribs
hanging like a wattle
inflates the kitchen table
till it touches walls, makes
the speck of grit inside my
sock swell into a boulder,
the faucet’s steady drip, drip, drip
wear enamel off my tooth.
To what do I owe
this hollow bowl
of unplanned solitude?
Named luxury till
a Canadian wind
smothered all my options,
left me the ribs
of cupboard shelves:
a single box of hardtack.
Obituary of a Former
Friend’s Dad
How satisfying to read
that the woman for whom
you swept your family aside
was the woman you kept
these 30 years hence.
Even your son must have to admit
that one was a prize, well worth
his gut ache.
Shoshauna Shy founded the program Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf which brings poetry out of the classrooms and libraries into the public eye. She also helps to create, coordinate and facilitate the poetry events for the annual Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison.