Jessica Wiseman Lawrence- Three Poems

Planets

Her blood flows, transparent.
A fish could swim there,
dorsal fin swaying with the current 
of her insides.
Her tears burn blue
as the brightest stars.
Our entire solar system
could travel down her cheek,
into the corner of her mouth-
and wait 
for a bird to carry away the planets
like torn paper,
like cut grass.

Water, Then the Tiger

I saw waterfalls and mountains

and faint reds and blues against cave walls.

I saw rocks.

I saw dust on your feet.

I saw red dust on your feet.

I saw crumbling red dust

as an afterthought about the sky

spreading across the world,

across the water.

Then the tiger came into my head 

again, and settled there, hunting

for certainty, but settling for fear.

That People See

A home needs repairs

If that isn't done, winter will leak in or

you'll be baked inside by Memorial Day.

Helping him last year, we climbed up onto the slanted metal roof with

rollers and silver paint and made sure to cover every inch.

I approached the part of the home nearest to the driveway

and he called out- "Do a good job over there."

I thought about the dilapidated trailer home below and asked, "Why?"

He said- "Because that is the part that people see."

“Water, Then the Tiger.” Semaphore: May 2015.  “That People See.” Silver Birch Press, “Where I Live” series:  March 2015. “Planets.” Hermeneutic Chaos Literary Journal: May 2015.  

Jessica Wiseman Lawrence grew up on a working farm in rural central Virginia, then studied creative writing at Longwood University. You can find her recent work upcoming or published in Stoneboat, Origins, Black Fox Literary Magazine, and The Feminine Divine's upcoming Anthology of Female Voices, along with many others. One of her poems has recently earned a Best of the Net nomination. She continues to live in rural central Virginia with her family, and she works as an office manager by day. She believes that all people, regardless of education level or economic class, should be able to write, enjoy, and showcase their poetry.