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Light & Still Not Ready

Poetry, Robin Chadwell



Light


I have kept my gaze 

so low.


Shoulders hunched, 

I drag my feet from the bed to the table to the bed,

leaning against the wall like a shadow

slipping through the cracks—wait 


it’s 5pm.


My bottom lip quivers,

eyes recognize something.


You’d think it was my old dog

or dead father stepping through the west window,


a memory of last year before it went dark:


late night goodbyes,


sleep without clothes,


all the time in the world,


light.


 

Still Not Ready


Can’t stop thinking about what it means to eat an animal

or how to care about a person 

without being selfish. In the meantime I am a vegetarian. 

Haven’t had sex in six months and I’m still not ready. 


I inherited my father’s hunting rifles - is that the way?

I slept on the floor beside him as he died.

I ate a hamburger the other night 

because the craving was so strong. My friend said:


“No shame in it. You need iron.” No shame? Please.

New wave pop psychology

all about being unapologetic.

Very stupid.


 

Robin Chadwell lives in the green mountains of so-called Vermont. She spends her time organizing against US imperialism and tending to her garden. Her poetry has been published by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, The Scapegoat Review, The Hyacinth Review, Drip Literary Magazine, among others. Find her on Instagram at @robinchadwell.


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