1.
My favorite foods these days
come with pits:
olives
cherries
nectarines
plums

Chew carefully.
Skirt the center.

Throw out that which isn’t nourishing.

2.
I would wash my sheets
but the open windows
have carried away any scents
that could be tied to memory

and have left only the slight dampness
of too much rain.

Besides
I wouldn’t want anyone to think
I have anything to hide
or prepare for.

3.
It’s eery how much of my life will fit into boxes.

I am packing up my memories
expertly,
snugly,
as if I am burying them
and do not want them to jostle too much
on their way to the afterlife.

How heavy they are
once boxed.

Black marker:
Fragile
Handle with care

Living room.

***

Hannah Cushing

Hannah Cushing is a self-proclaimed nerd, Mama Bear, and Bullshit Bandita. As high school English teacher, she is learning to perfect her super power – patience. She is a lover of poetry, truth in all its forms, Chipotle, Fat Tire, and assorted cheeses. She lives in Minneapolis with the many books she compulsively buys faster than she can read them. When she grows up, she hopes to be what she is – only better.