by Sherry Shahan
My Favorite Body
You
are my favorite body.
Yes, You
with your weight fluctuations
and your bruised legs
laced with varicose veins.
These silly impertinent
human
things.
Did you know each bruise on your thigh
is a Galaxy
that expands in the universe of your body
until you’ve healed yourself again?
Did you know you are an expert
in resurrection?
Yes, You.
You’ve phoenixed from every flame
ever set to your name.
Did you know you know those veins
trace patterns of Monarch wings?
Body of a butterfly
built like an Empress
moth
you mother every being you encounter
and pour from yourself
like your well is infinite
like the galaxies in your bloodstream
constellated from the building blocks of bruises
you earned
by putting such a fragile thing as human flesh
to the truest test
to live a life fully
leaving only ashes as evidence in the end.
Morgan A. DePue is a neurodivergent Appalachian poet with deep West Virginian roots. She lives in Ashe County, North Carolina, with her partner, and teaches at Appalachian State University. Morgan holds degrees in Sustainable Development and English. Her work has appeared in various literary journals including Bloodshot Journal of Contemporary Poetry, Pinesong Anthology, Salvation South, Women Speak Anthology, and others. Her first chapbook is forthcoming from Main Street Rag. When not writing or teaching, she can be found wading in rivers, wandering hills, and wrangling her small zoo of felines. TikTok: @morgan_the_dryad Facebook: Morgan DePue
Sherry Shahan is a 76-year-old woman who studies pole dancing in a small California beach town. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in Poetry and Short Fiction, and Best American Short Stories.