Michelle Whittaker, a West Indian–American poet, pianist, and university instructor, is the author of the debut poetry collection Surge. She received an MFA in creative writing and literature from Stony Brook University–Southampton and lives in East Setauket, Long Island.

A Mirror of a Mirror

by Michelle Whittaker
i.
The legacy:
was advice
to have two children
to keep around the house
like two Bibles
in case one goes missing.


ii.
I used to take red crayon
and scribble on homemade nail polish
and my          would find out
and take that raw-sienna belt
that whip, whip, whip
spoke with a witty rip
and by nightfall my hands
blossomed into numb and dumb.


iii.
Actually, on staring at my fingers for a good five minutes,
they look like the legs of a muddy elephant.


iv.
It was such a shock
to be told I am a kinda coffee mark
that accidently sat her fat self
on perfect cleanliness.
People on couch
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