POETRY

I Put Life on Hold

By Ellen June Wright     VOLUME 57 No. 2

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Yesterday, I gave myself permission to stop
        by my favorite river, sit and observe at midday

my head overflowing with the mundane:
        the aging car and all it needs,

the leaks in the apartment,
        the budget shortfall each month.

Yesterday, I let myself sit by the river
        and forget. When I’m there, I fold the world

away neatly the way I fold a picnic blanket,
        allow the sky to wrap around my shoulders

the way I wrap a shawl, allow the river
        to speak to me as though I were a water nymph.

Yesterday, I sat by the river, the silver
        shimmering body flowing away from me.



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ELLEN JUNE WRIGHT was born in England of West Indian parents and immigrated to the United States as a child. She was educated in New Jersey and taught high school language arts for three decades. She consulted on guides for three PBS poetry series: Poetry Haven, Fooling with Words, and Language of Life. Her work has been published in Mississippi Review, Gulf Coast, Glassworks, Plume, Tar River Poetry, Missouri Review, Prelude, Caribbean Writer, Obsidian, Verse Daily, North American Review, and others. She was a finalist in the Mississippi Review 2024 poetry contest. She has received multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations and is the host of a virtual poetry workshop.


VOLUME 57 No. 2