I’m trying to be subtle about it
but there’s no good way to be subtle
about being subtle—I have to come out
and say it without the subtle even though she will
fault me for it and maybe even rough me up which
is definitely not subtle and maybe even crude
Trying for something more three dimensional
like egg jellies at the diner that don’t open up
and fight you and always end up grape
Sometimes you have to distract yourself
I never met a steamer ship at the dock
but I know you would wave your silk scarf
or your little black hat with the veil
like a token of understanding
that you left
and came back.
—From the collaborative chapbook Addressing the Blue Dog (Factory Hollow Press, 2014); republished here by author’s permission
is a writer and sign-language interpreter living in western Massachusetts. Her writing has been published in journals such as Jubilat, DecomP, and Trivia: Voices of Feminism. Her poetry chapbook Tiger Laughs When You Push was just released by Headmistress Press.