Ordering pizza with my favorite toppings.
“Tomatoes, black olives, and, and…”
Those spicy green rings
that burn the mouth.
Showing the new employee around the office.
“Here is the supply closet. We even have
a large selection of, of…”
A hard surface to write on
that holds the paper in place.
New employee fills in the blank: “Clipboards.”
“Yes!” I reply as if it were a guessing game,
trying not to feel embarrassed,
trying not to show how afraid I am
that what happened to
my mother and her mother
is happening to me.
Marie Marchand is the Poet Laureate of Ellensburg, WA. In this civic role, she gives readings and workshops, inspiring individuals to use poetry as an arts modality for self-revelation and community building. Her poetry has been published in Crannóg Magazine, Catamaran Literary Reader, California Quarterly, Tikkun Magazine, San Diego Poetry Annual, and The Awakenings Review. Her book Gifts to the Attentive was published in 2022. Read more at mishiepoet.com and follow her @mishiepoet.