My mother has given me
\na fake gold ring,
\nfrom her mother
\nand it cuts into your cornucopian thigh
\nas I change you,
\nyour first wound.
\nIs this how I provide for you?
\nAs I was provided for, given
\nevery precious thing foraged
\nhand-me-down clothes and jobs
\nand roles, and dreams
\nill-fitting and faded,
\nnothing gone to waste?
\nIs this living well or
\na black hole legacy?
\nAre we survivors
\nif we emit no light?
\n <\/p>\n
My mother has given me a fake gold ring, from her mother and it cuts into your cornucopian thigh as I change you, your first wound. Is this how I provide for you? As I was provided for, given every precious thing foraged hand-me-down clothes and jobs and roles, and dreams ill-fitting and faded, nothing [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[491],"class_list":["post-14232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-two-woman-at-the-shore-by-edward-munch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14232"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14242,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14232\/revisions\/14242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/narrativenortheast.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nESSAY<\/strong>
\n
\nIs it too late to live on the farm?
\n
\nIs it too late to spend hours in a whitewashed industrial studio
\ncovering myself with acrylic paint, and rolling across a canvas
\n
\nor stand among spittle-soaked strands of green
\ndog snapping at the heels of cloud-zippered sheep?
\n
\nHas the time to smoke on Sicilian tile patios,
\none strand of hair winding around a purpled-spotted finger
\ntruly passed? Or to marry young, have children young,
\nand retire young enough to begin singing in lounges
\n
\nin backless sequined dresses
\nmaking slow figure eights with a single lit cigarette?
\n
\nIt appears the time to have the phrase,
\n\u201cshe always wanted\u201d in my obituary has passed
\n
\nand I\u2019ll have to let go of, \u201cenduring passion\u201d
\n\u201cconstant\u201d and \u201cdedicated\u201d as well.
\n
\nBut could I negotiate being surrounded
\nby tender sepia-toned photographs of Morocco,
\n
\nif there\u2019s room, I mean.
\n
\n8<\/span>
\n
\nJulie M. Wolfe previous work has appeared in Breakwater Review, White Whale Review, Crack the Spine, The Clackamas Literary Review<\/em>, and Wisconsin Verse<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"