The Poetry Project

A Stopping Place

Holly Mitchell

I think my dreams
xxxxxxxxdon’t work at home
but see other ceilings.

xxxxxxxxGrand Central Station?

I awake with
xxxxxxxxa kitten in my hair
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcontent there
xxxxxxxxon my periphery,

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxmy net growth.

The long one
xxxxxxxxwho hid like a spirit
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwho suffered
xxxxxxxxwants every glass
& earbuds

xxxxxxxxonly as they fall.

I don’t know
xxxxxxxxwhy I felt awful
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxwhile & after
xxxxxxxxcommuting.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxBut now

I know myself mysteriously
xxxxxxxxvitamin deficient
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxlike clockwork
xxxxxxxxafter the death
of a pet.

xxxxxxxxSomething to do

with restlessness?
xxxxxxxxMy body speaks
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa numb tongue
xxxxxxxxon pins

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx& whitened hair.

Work from Boo: Ghosts and the Unconscious for Utopian Dreaming with Claire Donato & Adrian Shirk

Elsewhere