Ex-Wife

You rip yourself awake
as your body cries
of ownership: this was his
that another claimed, curled
and purring at your back.

You won't remember
how you got there
but will pray for those
you teach and the mistakes
they've yet to make,

these young husbands
who flick their collars
up to kiss their wrists
like they're waiting for
the ceremony to begin.



The Permanence of Ruin

My mother sends articles
written by priests who
warn of repeating mistakes.

They fear dust and debt,
filthy nails, and knuckle
cuts that keep opening.

They don't mention the
cracked miracle of watching
how bad it can get,

like when my students
devour footage of sports
injuries, sockets spinning

on hairpins, the glittering
calcium always failing
in the same place.


Donora Hillard is the author of Parapherna, available from Dancing Girl Press. Her lyric memoir and poetry have appeared in Pebble Lake Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Wicked Alice, and many others. She's been an instructor of writing at King's College and currently lives in southern Pennsylvania, where she teaches.