Contributor: Susie Sweetland Garay

- -
When a craving
cannot be satiated
distraction is the
only answer.

So I pile on projects,
meaningful work to divert
from the gaping hole
in my middle.

I sift powder
and breathe
through a mask.
Watching the
temperature
and the time.

I experiment with
words and fall in love
again with the sound
of pen on paper.

This is an odd place
where everything is
filtered, like light
brought in from
another time.

This is a place that is
not quite itself and
there is nothing to do
but get on with it.


- - -
Born and raised in Portland Oregon, Susan received a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Brigham Young University, spent some years in the Ohio Appalachians and currently lives in the Willamette Valley with her husband and cat where she works in the Vineyard industry. She self-published a book of poems and photographs, Gifts from the sky, in 2012. She has been published in a variety of on line journals and co edits The Blue Hour Literary Magazine, http://thebluehourmagazine.com/