In the Kitchen After the Child Dies
Dust motes linger
in a splinter of sun.
A mud-brown mug waits for the boy who painted it
to return.
All the Black-eyed Gerber daisies
slump in milky water.
A wisp of streamer from his sixth birthday
clings to the blade of the fan.
One day, it too, will fall,
like the last leaf of an oak.
A white moon appears
out the window.
Fingernail of a child, cradled now
in the womb of the sky.
by Chanel Brenner
Chanel Brenner is the author of Vanilla Milk: a memoir told in poems, (Silver Birch Press, 2014). Her poems have appeared in Poet Lore, Rattle, Cultural Weekly, Diverse Voices Quarterly, Anderbo, West Trestle Review, and others. Her poem, “July 28th, 2012” won first prize in The Write Place At the Write Time’s contest, judged by Ellen Bass. In 2014, she was nominated for a Best of the Net award and a Pushcart Prize. www.chanelbrenner.com