Ekphrastic Honourable Mention 2024
Can I fit in? It’s a small gap.
Only big enough for a paper doll without a crinkle
Running from my dotted lines had me smudgy, pudgy and bewildered
I wonder
If I buy the right supplies, could I putty over my defects?
Smooth the edges of my ragged memories?
Bleach out the stains of my fears?
I over-cured my personality to fit on the shelf. Carbon copy of societal norms.
Okay, at the store, I’ll need the following to fix my defects:
Head Aisle
A bag of comradery
Confidence, individual size
Milk without the poison
Three small bulbs of forgiveness
A jar of salty tears, not the can
A bushel of songs for ASMR
Body Aisle
A heart without a hole
Friends who stay even when I’m cold
Spicy memories hidden in folds of fat
Self-actualization, solid form, not liquid
Trust, in the jar, not canned
Green grass, from this side, not that
Soul Aisle
Human manila paper pattern to be someone else
Social acceptance stencils
Pins for size twelve, label cut here
Instructions to throw my stitches
Meditate to scrub the paint off
Do I really want to be someone else?
Burn the list
-Norma Rrae
you can find the art that inspired this poem here:
Norma Rrae 
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