poems

note from my parents on 18th birthday

we are away today, child.

there is plenty of us
left in the cupboards.

in the laundry room
you will find fresh eyes and a pair
of folded arms.
the feet are unwashed.
leave them there.

allow your regular duties
to perform.
remember the rubbish bin
is full and needs your attenion.

now please, remember the prodigal: the whores,
the squandering, the hunger for pig troughs.
what more can we say? the choices are before you.

when we come back this evening,
we hope to find you home.

daguerreotype

this silverish-gray

not

     quite clear

photographic image
conjures memories
                       of cold easter mornings
                       the scent of old mothers,
the chill of wooden pews beneath my thighs.

it is everything opposite of this southern
spring morning --the heat bellowing praise for itself.

the preacher said that our remembrances
are empty, but noticing the worn lines
on this mother's captured face, i suspect the
suitcase of her experiences
                                   was heavy
                                            with substance.

i seal my own crinkling eyelids
delving backwards into the waters of
                                       nostalgia,
and there, in the depths,
i open my mouth, and swallow
the weight of significance.

Chimera
poetry by Heather McCuen Dearmon

NEWS: Dearmon's poem "note from my parents on 18th birthday" wins 1st Place and The People's Choice Award in the 2006 Single Poem Contest by the SC Poetry Initiative and The State Newspaper.

Dearmon's poem "daguerreotype" won 2nd place in the Rock Hill and York County Poetry Contest in 2005.