Jacalyn Shelley
Three Gloves
Yesterday it snowed. Your brown gloves slid
off the shelf, and I remembered you
ice skating. How each leg crossed over the other,
the setting down of each foot, the circles you sketched
on the cranberry bog. But here's this one
black glove. The slack leather bulges where you wore
your Masonic ring. Your handshake, a test –
those who could bear the hard
squeeze and those who could not. After I kissed
your dry forehead, I crumpled into my brother's arms.
We recalled your strange love,
the moments your hand seemed disconnected.
Didn't you run to our cribs to hear us breathe?
The dead are helpless in our hands.
Last week I saw you behind the screen door.
Bio
As a member of the South Jersey Poets Collective, Jacalyn Shelley participates in poetry readings in Atlantic City and hosts the Leap Street Poets Workshop. She's been published in several journals including Sugar House Review, Dunes Review, DASH, San Pedro River Review, and Pilgrimage's Injustice and Protest Issue. In 2018 she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. To enjoy more of her poetry go to JacalynShelley.com.