The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: On Shifting Shoals by Joanne Durham

This selection, chosen by guest editor Kirsten Kowalewski, is from On Shifting Shoals by Joanne Durham (Kelsay Books 2023).

Words Matter: Choose Wisely

says the sign on the red and white cooler
in my neighbor’s front yard. Kids on bikes,
curious walkers, tourists who wander off the beach
lift the creaky top. We find smooth stones,
egg-sized, still heavy with the mountain
they long ago deserted, each painted
with a word. Should I prop open my door
with imagination, anchor fly-away papers
with song, or ponder oblivious and obvious
as bookends? Sunrise could last all day
on the mantel, and I could fiddle with detrimental
in my jacket pocket without causing harm. Visitors
will surely depart with dolphins
nestled in duffle bags, a teenager will tuck courage
under her pillow. I choose wisely,
so understanding remains
for the home that needs it most.

Joanne Durham is the author of To Drink from a Wider Bowl, winner of the Sinclair Poetry Prize (Evening Street Press, 2022) and the chapbook, On Shifting Shoals, (Kelsay Books 2023). Other awards include Third Wednesday’s annual poetry contest, the Mary Ruffin Poole Prize, Prime Number Magazine’s Summer Challenge, and 3 Pushcart nominations. Her poems appear in Poetry South, Poetry East, Vox Populi, Cider Press Review, CALYX, Cutthroat, James Crews’ anthology, The Wonder of Small Things, and many other journals and anthologies. She lives on the North Carolina coast, with the ocean as her backyard and muse.

Kirsten Kowalewski has a master’s degree in library science and a specialist’s certificate in school media services for grades K-12. She reads widely. and is the editor for horror and dark fiction review website Monster Librarian. This is her third time curating for The Wardrobe.