every time she leaves the house 
“look at those pretty purple flowers! 
look at the pretty trees! 
such pretty trees! 
look at the beautiful 
blue sky!” 

of all the things she can’t keep 
in her memory she has kept an awe 
and wet paint on her young fingers 
and a sharp pain when the chord 
in her heart is 
plucked 

Hydrangea (photograph, 11 July 2023)

Copyrighted © by Scott Ferry. All rights reserved.
Reproduced here with his permission.

Scott Ferry

helps our Veterans heal as an RN in the Seattle area. He attributes his writing skill to listening to rain fall upwards from the bottom of a fictional aquarium. His most recent book, each imaginary arrow, is now available from Impspired Press. Earlier this year, Meat for Tea Press published his collaboration with Lillian Necakov and Lauren Scharhag, Midnight Glossolalia. Upcoming early in 2024: his collaboration with California poet Daniel McGinn, Fill Me With Birds (Meat For Tea Press), and his book of prose poems, Sapphires on the Graves (Glass Lyre Press).

Links to Scott’s other books, including his first collection, The only thing that makes sense is to grow (Moon Tide Press, 2019), are available at his website: Ferrypoetry.com