2 Poems

Three A.M. Phone Call

A scythe propped open our bedroom door

as a subzero wind shouldered its way in

            and blew the roof right off

The floor began to tilt

our boy’s guitar skidding

With the lift of a muddy hand

the Reaper reached to tear

our symmetrical family shape

           into a jagged triangle

                     but we grabbed the ankles of our son;

                     white-knuckled, we held on

The Taunt

How apropos

forever you’ll wear

proof of the impulsive wrath

you awakened in your nemesis

and mentor: A milky sliver

risen to seal the cut in flesh

now smooth as ice, this slice

of star, your face’s testimony to

a pane of glass, a ball, a brother

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.