Youngest leaves for college today.
Our house appears to understand.
Our house appears to understand.
Water heater breaks, ceiling weeps.
I grab a mop, sweep up the weeps.
Sam the Appliance Man is booked.
Every plumber in town is booked.
She carries on, keeps packing up.
Nothing stops her from packing up.
I think of how she left my womb.
Her early exit from my womb.
I see what water breaks reveal.
I see what water breaks reveal.
Daughter leaves for college today.
Paula R. Hilton
Paula R. Hilton explores the immediacy of memory and how our most important relationships define us. Her work has been nominated for Best Small Fictions and has appeared in The Feminine Collective, The Sunlight Press, Writing In A Woman’s Voice, Dear Damsels, The Tulane Review, and elsewhere. Her novel, Little Miss Chaos, was selected as a Best Indie Teen Read by Kirkus, and her first poetry collection, At Any Given Second, received a Kirkus star. She holds an MFA from the University of New Orleans.
