Realization Stains by Sandra Ketcham

Your memory moves slightly

against 

the kitchen wall



With bruised knuckles I 

paint you 

in strands, in

stripes 

of amaranth, 

mustard and denim blue



I paint you 

life-sized to dance with me, your

dark hair tickling my

shoulders, your

salty syllables 

dripping down 

my neck



I paint you 

how I remember you, 

how I want you to be: 



    with golden eyes, howling at the vapid seaside joggers, their 

    tiny rubber doggies, their sweat-soaked name-brand shorts



I paint walls of you, all

of you

beneath trees, inside

sky



I wonder how you'd look

today 

& 

I sigh, 

shallow, 

sink into the carpet fibers,



their frayed gray strands sting

my feet 

Author bio:

Sandra Ketcham currently lives in Orlando, where she works as a full-time freelance writer and editor. She is pursuing her degree in psychology and spends her free time working with autistic children and their families. Her poetry is recently published or forthcoming in Rusty Truck, Eunoia Review, Calliope Nerve, Yes, Poetry, Psychic Meatloaf, Cherry Blossom Review, and others. Sandra has a strong aversion to llamas.