Loud Room by Emma Goldman-Sherman

too many uninvited guests

this was never the plan

they spoil my soup

I keep a crockpot in the corner

plugged in with the bones

I cannot say whose

add water several times a day

apple cider vinegar

pulls the calcium through

to the broth, sea salt for other minerals

traces of what we lost, don’t even

remember, forgot to put our finger on

my mother’s bones fell through

trying to hold her like changing a pillowcase

i was always left holding the empty bag

upside down the fragments sift

like bitter sand across the floorboards

where I could slip and fall, the room

needs a lock for clawing — i’ll never be anything

good or any better always the fucked up slut

he rescued from some coffee shop

not a Starbucks with a sofa

just the ordinary cup of Joe

forty five cents and bitter

the lock needs earplugs, the lock needs

window shades, and a different kind

of lock for the voices trapped on the inside

All writers/creatives are welcome to join me in BRAVE SPACE for a supportive creative experience. https://www.bravespace.online

ABRAHAM’S DAUGHTERS A Henley Rose Finalist (2019) is now a podcast on TheParsnipShip.com – listen here: https://www.theparsnipship.com/#listen-now

PERFECT WOMEN now available at Next Stage Press https://nextstagepress.net/perfect-women/

COUNTING IN SHA’AB is now a podcast on PlayingOnAir.org – listen here: https://playingonair.org/new-releases/counting-in-shaab

Watch my short play DREAM TALK here: https://pineyforkpress.com

Plays available at The New Play Exchange