Amy Poague: I Continued Living
Photo: Joanna C. Valente
I Could Work in a Cube This Small
The pendants dangled in the window,
sparkling glass, color in cubes. I needed a new life
to gift myself a necklace. My office cubicle
hung gray against my chest
during the hours
I continued living.
Tacking up souvenirs, watercolors, sketches of trees
provided a chance I hadn’t had yet: making space
pleasant. But the watercolors waved and smiled
from their away, wherever they would be happier.
The cube of aqua glass and a silver chain
were mine before I could find another job.
Giving up on deserving a glittering endeavor was the easy part.
Amy Poague is an Iowa City-based poet working at a junior high. She holds an M.A. in Creative Writing from Eastern Michigan University. Her work has appeared in 8 Poems, where is the river :: a poetry experiment, The Cabinet of Heed, Juke Joint, The Mantle, SWWIM Every Day, Really System, and Ghost City Review. She can be found online at amypoague.wordpress.com and on Twitter @PoagueAmy.
