Choosing

by Carol Shamon

Image credit: Evie S. on Unsplash

The poems clamor

around my legs

Pick me, pick me

they shout

There is loneliness

and fear

and heartbreak

and beauty

I stoop to pet each one

Examine their teeth

and gently place them back down

I reach instead for Love

waiting patiently above

sheltering me with a cellophane sheath

spinning webs that sew my heart to yours

Love ignites my feet to walk away

Inflates my breath

and sends me home

***

Carol Shamon

I've recently been published in several publications including the opening poem in the new UK magazine Seedlings, the online publication Spillwords, the 2024 San Diego Poets Annual, Summation, and the book Relevant Poetry. In 2020 Irrelevant Press published my zine "A Different More" Creating and Embracing Change While Aging. The zine “Oh The Water” was published in the summer of 2023. Finishing Line Press will be publishing my chapbook “Stronger Than Salmon” in August of 2024. I am currently working on my first memoir "The Decade House".