MANDY BROWN - POEMS

Mandy Brown (she/her) is a queer Central Texas poet, a 2019 Poetry Half-Marathon winner, and the 2013 ARHOF's Tillie Olsen Fellow. Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in Writers Resist, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Eunoia Review, and more. Mandy currently teaches at an alternative school and loves it! Read more at mandyalyssbrown.weebly.com. 

To be a Mermaid
​

Gone are the days when bills were paid.
Now a to-do list continually grows.
I long to be just a mermaid.
and swim away from all my woes.

I’d not be waiting on a paycheck
Or keep a mental list of all that is due.
I’d explore each and every shipwreck
And find treasures old and new.

Fish would help me clean, if needed at all.
With sailors I’d play and tease
and later on a sandy warm beach sprawl,
enjoying the sun in ease.

But for now, all my cares have blown away
And I rest in daydream for I can't adult today.

​

 Upon Reentry

Upon reentry I will be kind. I will not compare myself to
moving targets, but I will watch their light wrap around me.

I will allow myself rest, to move slowly, or quickly, or not at all.
When I come home, which is not always when I arrive there,

I will speak or sing or dance. I will reflect the spark of her smile,
remember the wrinkles in his hands.I will promise our stories faith

that it was never the place that held the magic.


Published in Isacoustic, August 15, 2019

 Thirst

His world 
bristled at the rim 
of a cup 
he refused
to drink.


published in Right Hand Pointing April 2015
Reprinted in Isacoustic, August 15, 2019