small graces by Glennys Egan

August 3, 2022
Poet name: Glennys Egan Poem name: small graces Poem: mother can’t find her handbag she wants to pay the plumber whose cost is already covered in the price of long-term care she searches her small room: nightstand closet the sheets of her cot it’s there with her driver’s license names of important places her beloved husband may he rest in peace and other precious things she tells the woman who washes her hair what she’ll do when she gets out cross an ocean to hug her sister-cousin go to church on sunday mornings drink coffee at the chicken delight out of business seven years plant flowers eat ribs rubbing slow circles into her scalp the worker nods knows a reason to look forward is a prerequisite for living i buy a new purse and fill it: a tube of lipstick ten dollars hard candy that tastes like licorice bring it to the home and say “mum, look what i found” End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Glennys Egan Previously published in Stanchion Magazine (Issue 7, 2022). Raised in the prairies, Glennys Egan lives in Ottawa, where she works for the government like everyone else. Since starting her poetry journey in 2020, her work has been published in Taco Bell Quarterly, Canthius, No Contact Magazine, and several other lovely places. Glennys sits on the board of directors for Arc Poetry Magazine. You can find her and her dog, Boris, online at @gleegz.