
This selection, chosen by Guest Curator Stephanie Erdman, is from Narrow Bridge by Robbi Nester, released by Main Street Rag in 2019.
Season of Mending
All my life, I’ve left a trail of broken things—
first mangled toys, lost game pieces, missing
cards, then bungled knitting, fallen
cakes, buttons that won’t
stay sewn. Relationships as well
break down: harsh words can’t
be unsaid; candor cools lifelong alliances.
At first, I never tried to fix such breaks,
just moved on, hoping for better luck.
Now, buried in the drifts of what
I’ve left behind, I turn to mending.
From the drain, I extract
a lost earring, from a pile
of papers a letter I meant to send
but never did. I apologize
for everything I said or didn’t,
for not expressing what I felt
or speaking when I shouldn’t have.
With these small gestures, let me
mend the past, repair the world.


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