Harriet Shenkman
My Apartment Has Become My World
I found
garage sale labels in iridescent colors
though I have no garage
an unused pink Spalding ball
made in China
one chopstick
good for unclogging drains
a bag of cannabis gummies
I’m tempted to try
three silver dollars gifted by
an imaginary benefactor
matches, Aroma Cigar & Wine Bar
from wild nights I can’t recall
Dream Catcher Liqueur made in
Country Cavan, Ireland
A ribbed Trojan condom left by
an unknown lover
One earring in a pearl flower shape
Cat-eyed marbles in a burlap pouch
Chew bone for a labradoodle
I wish I had
A rusted camel cigarette lighter
Snow globe of the Statue of Liberty
caught in a blizzard
—Submitted on 06/09/2020
Harriet Shenkman is the author of two chapbooks on Finishing Line Press, The Present Abandoned (2020) and Teetering (2014). Her poems have appeared in Alexandria Quarterly, Evening Street Press, When Women Waken, Calliope, Jewish Renaissance, and other journals. Shenkman is a professor emerita at Bronx Community College (CUNY), where she served as director of the center for teaching excellence. She lives in New York.
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