Today’s poem is part of a special launch schedule during National Poetry Month from April 1—30, 2024. I’ll be posting a new poem daily for 30 days, which will be sent out to all subscribers as a summary on April 30 and otherwise can be viewed for free in the archives here. Thank you for being here!
“AS ABOVE SO BELOW”
In pictures she wears red lipstick, fur coats, cat-eye tortoise shell sunglasses. But in my memories she’s always been one person. In truth, she was so many I could not see past an outline until I brought a mirror up and asked: Where did you come from? see the lipstick on my teeth, my blue Monsters Inc. coat, my desire and tension to be both invisible and glamorous, the very slow crawl to become her.
P.S.
Wrote this one right after yesterday’s poem. As I get older, I find myself thinking about both my grandmas a lot. They’re my picture of women in old age. The difference is I don’t have kids, no lineage to look up and back at me to wonder these same questions about female identity.