MEGAN E. FREEMAN - POEMS

Megan E. Freeman's debut novel is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster/Aladdin, and her poetry collection, Lessons on Sleeping Alone, is published by Liquid Light Press. Her poetry has appeared in multiple anthologies and literary journals, and as commissions by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Ars Nova Singers. Megan lives and writes near Boulder, Colorado.  www.meganefreeman.com

The rug you pulled from under us
​

The rug you pulled from under us
was quite the magic carpet,
for where I thought we stood upon the floor
there’s only air
and gravity’s a cosmic joke
they play on married women.

All the plates I haven’t thrown and smashed against the wall
could re-shingle my roof.

the words pile up
​

the words pile up in angry red scales
on the surface of my skin
flaking off into cups of tea
handed smilingly across white tablecloths
to the outstretched hands of simple-minded actresses

they execute tour de force auditions
ingénues doing backbends
into leading lady roles
contorting themselves into obscenities
designed to charm and delight

I am a snake in the footlights
coiling around their sequined ankles
shedding my carmine skin
leaving trails of blood and pus
daring the handler to misjudge me again

​

​All Fall Down

the truth
like basketballs
and pee-chee folders 
spins on your 
middle finger
wearing out the tennis player

like Bill Cosby
55 miles per hour
spinning at 45
chipmunk stand-up

like straw into gold
spun at the top 
of the tower – blood
on the spindle and the floor

like silkworms
in the 3rd grade terrarium
spinning from memory
without knowing why

I’m an airplane
until you put me down 
dizzy
spinning 
faster than the earth

twist up the swing hanging 
in the family tree
then spin
like a cordless drill
into the core 
of the steep front lawn
heading for China
so fast the colors blur
obscuring the facts 
of my face and our name

spinning 
spinning
all fall down

​

appropriate 
​

appropriate 
that the water you shoved me into
was deeper than you were

submerged 
my tears mixed and became part of the larger pool
masking my distress and embracing my saturated self

long hair 
floated up in gentle arcs around my head 
like underwater plants with blooming tendrils 
reaching for the surface

the aqua lens softened your face 
one might mistake the steadiness of your gaze 
for compassion 
rippling in concentric circles around the splash I made

the sun 
behind your head played tricks with your silhouette
alternating starry crowns and the urge to hold my breath
rather than emerge and inhale 
the air that every inch of you consumed
 

​