Muse’s Message

January 17, 2022January 17, 2022 Paula R. Hilton

I am distant memory
rising. Earthworm
aerating compost
in your dreams.
A tunnel, torchlit.
The way out, or in.
The hand you squeeze
for comfort. The hand
that slaps your face.
Your relentless race,
never-ending chase.
A glass of ice water
in Arizona in July.
I am not a lie. I’m sugar
on the spoon that makes
the medicine of your life
slip slide right down.
Your Mary Poppins.
Your Sadie Hawkins.
Asking you to dance.
But will you join me?

Photo by Anh Tuan To on Unsplash

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.