My own words ricochet
back into my face,
splintering flesh,
with the impact
of mindless syllables
muttered under my breath,
barely audible
but heard nonetheless.
Words spewed
into the atmosphere,
involuntary but vile,
words I should have vomited
into any empty vessel
and plugged with
a lead stopper.
Words spilled
onto sacred ground,
scattered in a garden
for the innocent
to find like tantalizing
red berries
on a poisonous bush.
Gloria Heffernan’s poetry collection, What the Gratitude List Said to the Bucket List, has been accepted for publication by New York Quarterly Books. Her chapbook, Some of Our Parts, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2018. In addition, her work has appeared in over fifty journals including Chautauqua Literary Journal, Stone Canoe, Main Street Rag, Columbia Review, Louisville Review, and The Healing Muse.
