when a young woman tends an old one guesses collect
like
rags in a drawer
she must once have been a great beauty, or how lonely to sit
by this window day by day
the old one could set her straight, if she cared to your fella's
not as
great as you think he is, and
you should decide now you're not fat
the human condition starts over with each child born, why
not
issue an owner's manual?
part one – overview
in the
wildness of your given years you will:
•
despair eight million times
•
shed rivers of tears
•
laugh like a dolphin
•
weep with joy at the touch of a loved one
•
come to rest in a state of quiet amazement
like me, she thinks as she’s wheeled from the window while the wheeler
vows
never to end up like this, too young to reckon the odds
that she
probably will
Award-winning writer Anne Leigh Parrish has two new titles coming from
Unsolicited Press: the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021; and an
open door, a novel, October 2022. Her latest novel, a winter night, released in March 2021 from Unsolicited Press, is the most recent
installment in her popular Dugan Family story. She is the author of nine
other books and lives in the South Sound Region of Washington State. Find
her online at her
website,
Twitter,
Facebook, Medium,
Instagram,
LinkedIn, and
Goodreads.