7/16/10

A Mess of Freedom
By Karen Kelsay


I love you

but I like it when you're gone.

I eat that extra cookie

and play Tom Petty music

all day long. The cat gets

bits of food when she makes noise,

I stay up really late.

My covers twist into a knot,

unmade. Chores and projects

follow me around

like phantom children,

littering the ground.

I love you

but I guess you should

come home.

I seem to be a mess

when you are gone.


- - -
Karen Kelsay is a native Californian who spent

most of her childhood weekends on a boat.

Her husband is British, and she travels to England

regularly to visit family and enjoy the countryside.



Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize

and author of five chapbooks, Karen's poems

have appeared a variety of magazines including

The New Formalist, Boston Literary Magazine

and The Lyric.