The Tarot of Letting Go
I gave away the copy of War and Peace
begun on bedrest, attempting to save
Anna, new babe named for the already
lost, like any hope of finishing
either pregnancy or novel
sight of the bright blue cover
enough to make the world blur
so I gave it up
marriage, house, book
kept as few reminders
as possible. The sonogram strips
continue to fade like the woman
I was — wife, mother, daughter —
nothing stuck, nothing but me
in this tar pool of grief
blindfolded, surrounded
by a garden of sword-stalks.
Jill Michelle’s latest poems appear/are forthcoming in Brink, New Ohio Review, Rise Up Review, SWWIM Every Day,and Valley Voices. Her poem “On Our Way Home” won the 2023 NORward Prize for Poetry. She teaches at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. Find more of her work at byjillmichelle.com.
SLANT 