Whitney cottage, Hermitage Artist Retreat
You could write about the windows
all nine of them. You could write about
the gulf, red tide strangling Florida’s
shore, the opaque eyes of dead fish
caught in the algal bloom. You could write
about the sky—long as a yawn, sky blue
chasing cerulean away, stretched wisps
of white determined to be the canvas
for another sunset showstopper. But the body
has its own narrative in mind. Neurons hustling
pain blank out any page. No writing can be done
when an electric snare corrals the brain. No ear
searching for song while one temple pulses
an arrhythmic lament. Mercifully there’s triptan,
a black curtain over this inflammatory act. Strike
through today, uncap the pen again tomorrow.
Copyright © 2024 by Teri Ellen Cross Davis. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on February 26, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.