ISSN: 1941-4137
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
POETRY THAT ENACTS THE ARTISTIC AND CREATIVE PURITY OF GLASS
Shannon Sankey's poems and essays have appeared or are forthcoming at the Academy of American Poets, Visible Poetry Project, Storyscape, SWWIM, Rogue Agent, Pittsburgh Poetry Review, The Weeklings, Atticus Review, Pretty Owl Poetry, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a 2017 Academy of American Poets University & College Prize. She holds an MFA from Chatham University, where she was the Whitford Fellow. She is the founder of Stranded Oak Press.
Poets Resist
Edited by Rachel Bunting
April 27, 2018
Edited by Rachel Bunting
April 27, 2018
Drill
I estimate my body would fold
neatly into the cabinet fixed to
my office wall. Its door hinges at
the top like a twister cellar. I
would need to climb up to it, but
I lose my knees when I am afraid
of a man or a bear. Of a gun, I
can’t say. I am white. I estimate
the mechanics would take half a
minute given adrenaline. Once
inside, I must draw the hatch
down and assume child’s pose,
my nose a fulcrum on the black
sheet metal. I must manage my
breath to limit sound and
condensation. I must make my
body light as a few books. I will
decrease as I have many times. It
may surprise me, how natural
this composure. I will tell my
coworker: When it’s over, open
the cabinet. Insurance, in case it
locks from the inside. I picture
dead kids rolling out from
trashed refrigerators in the ‘50s.
A tender thought. We taught
them once: hide only to be found.
Poets Resist is published by Glass Poetry Press.
All contents © the author.
All contents © the author.
