Hello, blog readers! Welcome to another installment of our pick-a-poem series, in which we feature a new poem here on the blog every single Wednesday. Today’s poem came, as these poems generally do, from Poetry Daily. This is a great website that offers a new poem to discover every single day. Check them out! This week we feature Lexington Avenue Line by Jayne Benjulian.
According to his bio page, Jayne Benjulian has had her poetry published in a variety of places. These include AGNI, Poet Lore, Women’s Review of Books, and Nimrod International. Her essays have been published in HowlRound and the California Journal of Women Writers. She obtained an MFA from the Warren Wilson Program for Writers.
Lexington Avenue Line by Jayne Benjulian
We are sneaking you in, my sister tells me.
I am supposed to feel special,but the occasion mystifies.
In the room, edges,blankets, sheets, underneath,
curve of mother’s body.She is ninety pounds,
my father whispers behind meat her hospital bed,
a train and subway ride away from home.We descend, outside,
descend again,I am under the earth, I hesitate, the doors slam,
two steel monoliths that could crush me.He doesn’t tell me to say goodbye,
so when he is ingesting more morphinethan food, I say, Will you dream of me?
Yes, he smiles. But motheris silent, he is silent.
Before is fuzzy. After is fuzzy.The doors are sharp.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s poem! For more posts like this, click here.
— Jet Fuel Blog Editor, Mary Egan
