I have no toes 
to balance 

my checkbook 

economy of skin, 
a robust 
quarter 


:::


my hands are flat, 
pancakes, 
how am I supposed 

to hug, no one 
if I could 

and who would want to 


:::


study in knee-sharp beige 

call me desert, sand, 
a pear, not 
cream with coffee 

pale 
wood or lion fur 


:::


carp are brighter, 
vibrant, at least the koi 

flexing 
in their landscaped pools 
without a boat 

what good are paddle feet 


:::


I hide 
discomfort 

ribbed legs a jail cell 

no fountain 
flows 
from shadow 


:::


burlap
triangle on my head 
cannot disguise 

the lumps, nor 
gunnysack 

a grief in mud-hue 

—Semi-finalist in MacQ’s Magician Ekphrastic Writing Challenge

Cindy Bousquet Harris

is a poet, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and the editor of Spirit Fire Review. Her poems can be found, or are forthcoming, in Nostos, Unlost Journal, Pomona Valley Review, Inlandia: A Literary Journey, and in several anthologies, including Poemeleon’s Over the Moon. She has led poetry workshops for adults and at-risk youth, and has curated anthologies of young people’s poetry. She lives in Southern California with her husband and their children.