Kay Middleton

I was thrilled to be nominated by voxpoetica http://www.voxpoetica.com/

for a Pushcart Prize in 2010.  Here is the poem that afforded me this honor.

Florence is my maternal grandmother.

The Silence of Wind

Florence wants love

respect,  recognition.

Maybe she even

wants a chance

to start over,

a reincarnation.

She wants to wear the blue

dress with the ecru lace

collar and the peplum

that makes her

look like she has hips

that sway sassy

when she walks, hips

that melt into her

narrow waist.

Her slender frame,

fragile bones,

frail as her spirit.

Florence often travels

in the lane reserved

for left turns, travels

in constant danger

of oncoming traffic,

fear filled streets

bordered in prayer.

Her eyes rain

crazy for weeks

supplying moats

of anger and confusion

or the other way ‘round?

She contemplates her body;

a maze of blood tunnels,

nerve highways, effervescent scars

scattered on failing flesh

like fish scales on the floor.

Florence fingers a crucifix

on a beaded

gold rope

listens to the silence

of wind,

swallows more pills,

and sleeps.