National Poetry Month : Jacqueline Valencia,

 

 

 

in the streetcar
I saw man reading a book
he stood, held a pole with this right hand
held a book on the other
his mittened hands had strings attached
string attached

now this was a full grown man
not a boy, wrinkles on his face
behind his eye glasses, he’s going to work, I think,
his blonde hair peppered with white
a contrast I can see due to his expertly trimmed beard
which was very yellow
against his pale and freckled skin

Forty
Fifty
somewhere in between with mittened hands
strings attached
keeping him from losing his
blue mittens somewhere between
thick and knitted by someone
not a something or an army
of little hands
without consent

This was love in his hands
either a lover, mother, sister,
father, who knows made them
but it makes me think of
my mother

she creates clothing, food, and
spaces where I feel safe, in between
as if I lived in her heart

the mittened hands
somewhere between
strings attached
and comfort

rebelling
loving
grew/grows.

 

 

 

Jacqueline Valencia is a Toronto-based writer.. She is the author of various essays and poetry books, including There Is No Escape Out of Time (Insomniac Press, 2016) and Lilith (Desert Pets Press, 2018). You can find her at jacquelinevalencia.ca.