The thought that I should have some other life persists.
And two dreams, very similar: someone has moved my things.
Come morning, the doe guards her fawns.
Other days she’s liked me best.
Per usual, it’s hard to get my bearings.
This street runs east-west? Since when?
For some, girlhood never ends. Am I among them?
I wonder, expertly twirling my hair.
Most days I keep worry at bay. Somehow.
The evening is soft. Nothing is withheld. I get to choose.
Mary Ann Samyn is the author of six books of poetry, including My Life in Heaven, winner of the 2012 FIELD Prize, and the forthcoming Air, Light, Dust, Shadow, Distance, winner of the 2017 42 Miles Press Poetry Prize. She teaches in the MFA program at West Virginia University.
