Vol.2, No.4 • November,
2008

Poetry by Karen Kelsay

One Last Thought

This Child

Ditching Class

One Last Thought

Pink stays vivid near variegated
veins that pleat each petal, like gathers

on a garment. It's the smallest bud to open
on Summer's evening. Behind lobed sycamore

leaves, stars bathe like pale jellyfish
nursed by the moon--until all but one recedes

into nightfall's wave. Café music hangs a final note
above her bedroom shutter as she corners-back

cotton sheets. Then before her eyes close,
the candle flame sings her only thought.

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This Child

Across her bedroom, dollies peered
down from shelves, bridging walls
with ruffles and pearls--
The blue tea table was always set

for a cupcake party, beneath
Daisy Kingdom curtains. We made
a four poster bed, in princess-pink.
After she slipped under

the covers, and I sat on the edge,
it collapsed. Today I see her dollies,
again. They line her daughter's
walls, still wearing the same dresses.

The Bavarian girl fans her apron
of lace, holds her skirt out. The Victorian
lady keeps her parasol tilted by her side,
while the school girl, with a giant bow
in her hair, dangles a violin from her arm.
Above, in the center, is the angel. Her wings
stretch as she balances above the bed
as if to bless this child.

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Ditching Class

In my yellow baby doll dress,
that gathers beneath the bodice
in a billowy chiffon,
I flutter back and forth,
from locker to classroom.

At fifth period, purse over arm,
and book in hand, I sweep
around the corner like a butterfly--
to ditch class.

In the school's vacant courtyard,
the wind blows my dress
up to my chin.

I sidestep, back against
the stucco wall,
with yards of hem
gripped in my free hand.

Approaching the fence,
I run for my car.
Then silently vow:

To kill ALL the little Freshman boys
who laughed at me
through the window.

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Karen Kelsay grew up along and on the Pacific, and loves writing poetry about the sea. At the same time, she has written narrative, romantic, and fairy-theme poems that were created with other backgrounds and foreign lands in mind. She attended college in Anchorage, Alaska, and studied art and history, then devoted much time to traveling, for leisure, and the sake of gathering impressions, for writing poetry. Her first book, Collected Poems, was published in June 2008. She lives with her husband in Torrance, just a short distance from the beach, where she still looks for writing subjects and inspirations.