Yelm
by Samantha Malay
published in The Very Edge: Poems (Flying Ketchup Press 2020)
ISBN-13: 978-1-970151-23-7
shorturl.at/lqr78 

you can stand in the doorway to look at the night
and pray against a family fate
of muddy yards and porch pianos

seek comfort in upkeep
wasps beyond the ladder’s reach
a sliver of soap on the edge of the sink
the glitter of glass shards beneath a broom

picture yourself covered in leaves
pockets emptied of matchbooks and coins
limbs no longer hinged for gait
far from the grasp of hasty plans