Wednesday 7 June 2017

the everyday saint

by Eileen Murphy


monday nights
she volunteers at an abused women’s shelter
and thursdays
she dedicates to the rights of peruvians
and she visits an assisted living facility
every weekend

her clothes are from a thrift shop
she doesn’t own a television
and she’s used to starvation
eating only pop tarts

one day she gets a brain tumor
the tricky kind that multiplies
so quickly the surgeons
can’t keep up

no miracles ensue
a peruvian professor friend
moves in with her
stays till the end

soon she is gone gone gone
this is her song


* * * * *

A former Chicagolander, Eileen Murphy now lives 30 miles from Tampa. She received her Masters degree from Columbia College, Chicago. She teaches literature and English at Polk State College in Lakeland and has recently published poetry in Thirteen Myna Birds, Tinderbox (nominated for Pushcart Prize), Yes Poetry, The American Journal of PoetryRogue AgentDeaf Poets Society, and other journals.


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