Lisa Wilson

Something stirred deep
within me
when the First Lady
took her place
...

It was a bad idea
for me
to see you
one last time
...

Let me tell you
a little story
about a boy named Bill
Didn't own no shoelaces,
...

Scrounging up the last few dimes
from his momma's secret wardrobe,
Leon headed out
that cold September morning,
...

Why couldn't you love me?

Baby girl, I didn't love myself.
...

I was dying to be loved
by a man who could not
surround himself with anything
other than his most sacred possessions
...

...

Today is a big day
for me
I am about to embark
on a new journey
...

Her charcoal-gray purse is tattered,
just like her heart.
She keeps holding onto it,
rubbing the shredded leather strap,
...

Lively cheek
pressing into my pillow,
you tell me
it's all over.
...

There are some things
you will never get over,
like the first time
you kissed a boy, or
...

Slipping through ridges of my tongue
like sweet-smelling margarine,
liquid pills slide down my throat,
lulling me into a sleep
...

You repulse me
Your soft skin, your warm eyes,
the fluttering of your black-rimmed eyelids
You are an anathema
...

Better to be hit
while your car is
perfectly still
Your body will soften
...

On the edge of
a water-logged body,
I stew,
lampooned by
...

Lanyards tighten
around my tattered
neck
Grey and crying
...

How do you know
when things are going to end?
How do you know
He will never call again.
...

Step One: Denial

You made the right call,
ending it,
...

For less than five minutes
I saw him.
Under the stars of our wind-whipped city,
teetering on the edge of a crumbling cliff,
...

...