Happy for a time
Molly Cross-Blanchard is a Métis writer from the prairie living, working, and learning on land belonging to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. She is an MFA candidate at UBC, Poetry Editor at PRISM international, and author of the chapbook I Don’t Want to Tell You with Rahila’s Ghost Press.
If I shave my head I’ll learn
who my real friends are. I look and look
at my eyebrows but never know for sure
where to pluck. I tell my reflection Don’t worry,
your blue lipstick is cute. I tell her
I love her and we don’t know why
we’re crying. At the gym, to be brave,
I walk slowly
to the showers
in my new red thong.
Next week I will even look
straight at the mirror
like Arcimboldo
at a gourd. I eat a bit
of mould and call it immunization. Brush
my dog’s back teeth for ten seconds and call it
accomplishment on my CV. When I fill
an online shopping cart I delete everything
except the best yellow sweater, wear it
for three sleeps, and am so happy
for a time.
Molly Cross-Blanchard is a Métis writer from the prairie living, working, and learning on land belonging to the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. She is an MFA candidate at UBC, Poetry Editor at PRISM international, and author of the chapbook I Don’t Want to Tell You with Rahila’s Ghost Press.