Five Poems by Robin Wright

 

Dancing Girl

 

She reaches for the sky 
Eyes held by the light of stars 
Toes propped, balance struck 
Movement her life, spinning 
coils for an audience of none 
 

 

Looking Glass

 

 

Look beyond 

the mirror beyond 

the glass 

& reflection 

The frame 

is everything 

Cotton balls 

floating around 

harp strings 

budding holly tree 

knives ready 

to prick 

& pierce 

collage of bullets 

giant bruise 

worn as scarf 

& coat 

Look closely 

use your powers 

frame yourself 

as your proof 

of existence 

 

 

 

Moving On

 

 

Clouds crowd together 

like a protest against 

the sky. Your beauty 

come undone from 

sunshine & waves. 

 

I wave not to acknowledge 

but to move memories 

to the back of my brain. 

I stir at the thought of you 

basking in my mind. 

The only place out  

of your control.  

 

 

Sunrise

 

 

Blistering sadness under my fingernails. 

Irritation grows in my brain like Kudzu. 

Bow to my funk. 

Some days that’s all the pink gods 

with ribbons in their hair will allow, 

not warmth & growth, only pinpricks 

& jabs with a cotton ball. Welcome 

to their raw honey.  

 

 

Wait for the River to Flood

 

 

Witches stir the cauldron 

like your feelings swirl 

around your brain & heart, 

whisking through tunnels, 

highways, side roads. Never 

stopping long enough to hear 

the tick tock of stock  

you take in the moment,  

always a fantasy about future.  

Present tense not enough to float  

you to a dock, just the right amount  

for getting wet.

 

 

Robin Wright lives in Southern Indiana. Her work has appeared in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, As it Ought to Be, One Art, Loch Raven Review, Panoply, Rat’s Ass Review, The Beatnik Cowboy, The New Verse News, and others. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and a Best New Poets nominee. Her first chapbook, Ready or Not, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2020.