the energy healer asks over speakerphone.
at her name “She’s old. We don’t know the
number …” a stiff stretch “... but she’s been
through it.” she slips off the bed “I just saw—
they took her babies.” curls up facing away
on the floor “Ah, that makes sense.” Her
frenzy when the mailman stomps across
the lawn, howling and hurling herself teeth-
first at the windows. “When you see inside
someone’s …” “Energy.” “... are you ever
shocked by how horrible it is?” “How do I
put this? Always.”
Copyright © 2025 by Jennifer L. Knox. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on March 12, 2025, by the Academy of American Poets.
