Reduced

We still talk about the apricot
preserves confiscated at the airport
when we didn’t know
jelly was a liquid. We envision
a stranger spreading our shiny,
sunburst-orange affection
intended for another.

On a different trip,
returning from Honolulu,
I stand in security, wiser
and a little vain, adjusting
my new hair clip’s plastic flower
(same color as that damn jam).
I see a sign: “No Snow Globes”—
not that I purchased one on the island;
it’s just those ice skaters, their flawless
landscapes, the happy-go-lucky
immortal snowflakes,
already shrunk
to their most innocent.

 

About the Poet:
Marjorie Thomsen holds a master’s degree in social work from Catholic University in Washington, DC. Her poems have won awards from the New England Poetry Club and the University of Iowa School of Social Work. Pretty Things Please, her first collection of poetry, will be published in 2016 (WordTech Editions). Marjorie lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

 

Photo from Unsplash.

 

Poetry Breakfast accepts submissions of poetry and poetry related creative non-fiction year-round.  See our Submission Guidelines page for details on submitting your work.

Start your morning with a nourishing poem.  Follow us on  Twitter, Facebook, and  Tumblr,  and enjoy a new poem every morning straight to your feed.