Tomorrow a Cardinal Alights on My Shoulder
By Meredith MacLeod Davidson
I assent to this —perpetual claw¹
limb at a glance —segmented
a first² needle-pierce of a skin a revelation there
held a scene I could include in my own
& accept the exchange, cherish what is left³
in the derm—like ha-ha therapy dupe no really
when it is all —deductible⁴
what else⁵ do I have? Red blot of memory⁶ sting
etch to flesh. Charge me —by the hour⁷
¹I want to touch things she touched.
²My youngest sister was raised in hospitals. There is a suspicion her anxiety disorder stems from the ever-present threat of death in her formative years.
³In the bedroom after the funeral, I pocketed a framed flower; a painted bird figurine.
⁴The jewelry was already gone. There would be an appraisal, then a locked box.
⁵When she had me pluck the whiskers from her chin, I should have pocketed the thick black hairs.
⁶My therapist has advised against my using the word “should.”
⁷This is a moment to which we have both offered our consent.
Meredith MacLeod Davidson is a poet and writer from Virginia, currently based in Scotland, where she earned an MLitt in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow. Meredith's poetry is published or forthcoming in The London Magazine, Puerto del Sol, trampset, Cream City Review, Propel Magazine, The Boiler, Gutter, and elsewhere.