"Fenced" by Michelle McElroy
The Second Month by Rachel Marie Patterson
In the thinnest hours, I bundle her
into the jogger and drift beneath
balding fir trees. Before this I lived
alone in a field of coiled ferns, rinsed
cave crickets down the tub drain,
cooked pasta on a hot plate. Sometimes
I wandered in the grocery or the salon
to see other living people. I miss those
unsung evenings now. My daughter’s
sounds, I cannot decipher. Back up
the hill to the empty mailbox. Past
the pond, slick with algae and tepid.
into the jogger and drift beneath
balding fir trees. Before this I lived
alone in a field of coiled ferns, rinsed
cave crickets down the tub drain,
cooked pasta on a hot plate. Sometimes
I wandered in the grocery or the salon
to see other living people. I miss those
unsung evenings now. My daughter’s
sounds, I cannot decipher. Back up
the hill to the empty mailbox. Past
the pond, slick with algae and tepid.
Rachel Marie Patterson is the co-founder and editor of Radar Poetry. She holds an MFA from UNC Greensboro. Her poems appear in Cimarron Review, Harpur Palate, New Plains Review, Forklift, Ohio, The Journal, Thrush, Parcel Magazine, Smartish Pace, and others. The winner of an Academy of American Poets Prize, her work has also been nominated for Best New Poets and Best of the Net. Her poem 'Connemara' was a finalist for the Pushcart Prize in 2019. Tall Grass With Violence, her first full-length collection, is forthcoming from FutureCycle Press in 2022.
Michelle McElroy is a native New Englander who studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has worked at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Skinner Auction House and Historic New England. Interested by how light and shadow can transform everyday scenes are constant inspiration. These are images that she may see on early morning runs, midnight snacks in the kitchen or simple observations of everyday scenes that people can connect with or create a narrative of their own. Michelle’s work has been accepted into various juried shows in galleries around the United States and actively shows at local venues, such as libraries and cafes. She is a member of the Cambridge Art Association, Edward Hopper House, and Center for the Arts in New London, New Hampshire. Michelle lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two cats. Instagram: @michellemcelroyart Website: michellemcelroy.com
