Excellent news! A poem of mine with a new character in a historical poetry series I’ve been working on was just published today at Songs of Eretz!
Check out the poem, and then head over to the issue to read my complete notes about the poem, to see a historical photograph of an iron lung, and to read the work of the talented fellow poets in the issue, which is dedicated to dramatic monologues. 🎉
Flora in the Iron Lung and the Mirror
Melanie Faith
I don’t want to be a complainer. It’s good,
it’s exceedingly good that you’re here. You
came all this way. You look well. You look
so handsome, but then, you always did. I wish
I could reach out of this machine and touch you
after all this time. I wish… well,
let me dwell on something
easier. Let me tell you something nice
Sister Mary Joseph, the afternoon nurse, did.
She’s the young one who wrote to you. Yes,
her penmanship is impeccable. Well,
she sat reading to me. One day,
out of nowhere, she stopped
mid-sentence, and she looked over
and something like sunlight broke over
her face: You know, I see no reason why
we couldn’t jimmy-rig a mirror
right up here. She put the book
upside-down on her seat. That’s how
my machine grew this mirror. She left the room,
came right back.
Sister Mary Joseph’s the tall one—
you haven’t met her—
it didn’t take much for her to reach up and
add it to my machine. You could call it
a fancy modification for my entertainment,
my instant twin and constant company.
I make faces at myself now
into the long hours when there’s nobody
and nothing else.
You’d be surprised on
an endless stretch of days, how many faces
you can pull—butterfly-pinned as I am
inside this darned machine—with just a nose,
two lips, a tongue, and two eyes that
never stop seeing.
Poet’s Notes: This poem is a part of a recent collection I’m working on writing about (among other things): an iron lung, a librarian, and a love triangle. This poem explores polio patient Flora, whose childhood flame, Harry, visits her sickbed. This visit sets off the conflict between Harry and his current love, Helen (the protagonist librarian).
Read the rest at Songs of Eretz, Winter issue.
