we’d call her hurricane ___

by Jen Schneider

we know the flavor of fear and the weight of anger. misguided / misdirected – like an arrow recently sharpened and a trajectory recently widened. it finds its targets. hearts heavy of hand and hind. in the darkness of the warm summer sky. in the light of the crisp winter morning. bull’s eye. all eyes open. wide.

lashes flutter. looks linger. pencils push. blocks and locks. everywhere. there are a million reasons to write. also, a million reasons not to.

1. A feared person
2. A feared emotion
3. A feared truth
4. A feared falsity
5. The weight of a hurricane
6. The weight of sadness
7. The flavor of bitterness
8. The flavor of mistakes
9. The scent of a broken heart
10. The scent of anger
11. The scent of loneliness
12. The color of manipulation
13. A stone found in city gardens
14. A stone found on seashores
15. A letter that represents fear
16. A letter that represents worry
17. A letter that represents
18. A word that stops your heart
19. A word that stops your joy
20. A word you wish you never knew

we’d call her hurricane _1_. full of _2_ and _3_. ripe of _4_ and _5_. she’d bear down like _6_ and blanket us with _7_. In words and wisdom. always _8_. sometimes _9_. mostly _10_ and _11_. she’d scorn ideas not her own. lands not local. menus not made of home. she’d laugh, in tones that would linger. with quilts of _12_ wool and weights of stones. _13_ and _14_. and scars that linger in the language – strings of letters ( _15_, _16_, _17_) turned syllables that tie and bind. Pull back. Bear down. Be mindful. of _18_ and _19_. _20__, too. of the words you long to write. the hurricane – the ones you know they most fear. once etched – in print / on paper / of personhood – they too loiter.  

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Jen Schneider is an educator who lives, writes, and works in small spaces throughout Pennsylvania. She is a Best of the Net nominee, with stories, poems, and essays published in a wide variety of literary and scholarly journals. She is the author of Invisible Ink (Toho Pub), On Daily Puzzles: (Un)locking Invisibility (forthcoming, Moonstone Press), and Blindfolds, Bruises, and Breakups (forthcoming Atmosphere Press).