Cardboard Car Hanger
Its needle-sharp smell
penetrates the cheap shop,
the type where people riffle
through racks,
thoughtlessly throwing
underpriced things into carts.
Intended purchases left behind
in places different
from where they were picked up.
It isn’t supposed to be lying
between the car window screens,
let alone stripped
of its plastic wrapper.
In my father’s post-divorce car,
its cardboard twin had dangled
along with turns,
unexpected,
like the changes in his mood.
As I tense up,
my three-year-old squeezes my hand,
pleadingly persuading me
to leave
with Miffy-shaped screens,
the hanger staying
where it belongs.
Josje Weusten
Josje Weusten (she/her) is a Dutch writer/poet living in Belgium together with her partner and two daughters. She holds a PhD in literary studies, is an alumna of Faber Academy London, and teaches English literature and creative writing at Maastricht University. Her debut novel, ‘Fake Fish’, was published internationally by Sparsile Books (UK) in 2024. Her poems and shorts have appeared in various publications, including Litbreak Magazine, The Bookends Review, Flash Fiction Magazine, and The Brussels Times. In 2025, she won the Short Story of Belgium Competition 2025. For more information about her work: https://josjeweusten.co.uk/
