She and/or he or they
for whom you poured
pancake batter, buttoned
pajamas, kissed and clutched,
laced on their first tennis shoes will
mutate into creatures you won’t want
to touch, with tails that twitch, skin
cold and scaled, green slits for eyes
that view you as a tree to ascend,
a trunk to traverse to the wide open sky.
How quickly they scudder on all fours
branch to branch, toenails scraping
the bark. You will not recognize
those little feet.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 27, Issue 3.
Shoshauna Shy’s poems have recently been published by Poetry South, Third Wednesday, Flint Hills Review, and San Pedro River Review. Her poem “This Is You in the Sundance Catalogue” was longlisted for the Fish Publishing Poetry Prize 2022; and in 2023, her poem “Not Wanting to Meet My Birth Mother” was a finalist in the annual contest of Naugatuck River Review, Two other poems were shortlisted in 2024 for the Northwind Writing Award.
See all items about Shoshauna Shy
