Kimberly A.B. Welliver
DETRITUS
I've pawned all I own, except for the detritus
of my life, I stash those broken hours in my worn
pocketbook, with the missing stitch, and broken clasp,
extracting the night I lost my virginity
along with a wad of used tissues, lipstick blots
red whispers in the corners.
The abortion, when I was enucleated
like a cancerous eye, hoards its poison quietly
beside the cotton-mouthed box of tampons
wedding rice litter is ensconced, neat and tight
and bridal-white in the tortoiseshell compact
with the mirrored moon, my mother gave me
with a gin grin, the smooth needle shaped grains
grinding against the surface, slowly eroding the silver
backed lie, until even that oracle is blind.
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah Email: kimabw@aol.com Publications: Eclectica, 2Riverview, Poetry Superhighway, Ygsdrasil, Poetry Repair Shop, Lovewords, Dovecottage, Oquirrhh Writers Literary Anthology, Cal-Poly Anthology Awards: 1st & 3rd place Utah State Literary Competition-Free verse, 1st place Utah State Literary competition- Love poem, 3rd place-Utah State literary competition-full-length novel, Winner of the Sundress Poetry Slam
