Three poems by CL Bledsoe

Three poems
by CL Bledsoe

February 10

My sister crept down to visit me
from the floor above. She has no hips
so she has to hold her legs with her
hands. When she lets go, sometimes they fall
over, and she can't pick them up. This is why
she hates being introduced.

We shared toast; I took the crusts, she
the crumbs. We played board games
though we lacked most of the pieces
and had to use thimbles. We filled them
with pinkie fingers from the schizos
down the hall (who've been crying
about their extra pinkies for weeks).

We never spoke of father's mysterious
disappearance researching butterflies
on the Isle de la Fuerte, the sounds
of mother's screams that still echo
through the walls after she bricked
herself inside when father never arrived
that day with her laundry, or the splashing
of my goldfish cousin Ernie ate that Thanksgiving
when he had too many deviled eggs.

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February 29

I have a shoe. It isn't my shoe; it came from the nurse. He left it when he left because he saw the shadow, in the corner, over my shoulder. He looked just right, and saw it as I see it, in the corner. It is shadow the way depth is shadow, shadow the way the ocean is wet. He saw it, hunched in its chair, trying to knit. It gets angry when it tries to knit because it failed Home EC. He looked into its eyes and saw what I see. He ran. He fell; his shoe caught and he came right out of it. It spooked the rest of them so they shot me full of dream juice, tied me up and left me. When I came to, it was me and the shadow. And the shoe, sitting on the floor, on its side, perfect.

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T(he) G(i)bberers

The gibberers are sure of something. They break pens over their knees so they can show off the stains. (They don't know the difference between ink and gr(ass.) But it matters. Their erasers remain untouched as dumb he(arts. Question them not. Mass is more, better. More is better mass. Better is. Style. Sylte. Tsely. Sel yt.

Author bio:

CL Bledsoe has 2 books: Anthem and _____(want/need) and is an editor for Ghoti Magazine.