KD
  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors List
    • KD's Blog
    • Award Nominations
    • Support
    • Contact
  • Press
  • Issues
    • Issue 49
    • Issue 48
    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions

Betsy Mars

In the Aftermath of a Rat Invasion

​I rescue what I can from gnawed cardboard boxes:
old photos, clippings, ration tickets.
 
My estranged husband's estranged family
disintegrating in the garage; I try to salvage what I can:
 
damp embroidery, family recipes,
packets carefully labeled with a name
 
and First haircut – the names familiar, 
but without faces.
 
Opening each, I stroke the fine hair,
nearly reeling –
 
even after all these decades,
it slips through my fingers, almost alive.
 
Indecent to touch somehow.
I fold the thin paper,
 
speak the name again, tuck it in,
ziplock for protection.
 
I leave them for my husband outside of  his den,
wonder how we can ever discard them.

Biography

Picture
Photo by Stephen Howarth
​Betsy Mars is a poet, photographer, and educator who recently took up publishing as well. She released her first anthology, Unsheathed: 24 Contemporary Poets Take Up the Knife (Kingly Street Press), in October 2019. She was educated at the University of Southern California, and occasionally puts what she learned to use. Her work has been published in The Blue Nib, The Ekphrastic Review, Sheila-Na-Gig, RATTLE (photography), and numerous other online journals and print anthologies. In January 2019, her first chapbook, Alinea, was published by Picture Show Press. Her love of travel often conflicts with her love of her animals who prefer that she stay at home.  Find her on Facebook @ https://m.facebook.com/pg/marsbitsandpieces/posts/ and Twitter @BetsyMars1
 
back to issue
​Next Poem →
Picture
ISSN 2639-426X
© COPYRIGHT 2018-2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home
  • About
    • Contributors List
    • KD's Blog
    • Award Nominations
    • Support
    • Contact
  • Press
  • Issues
    • Issue 49
    • Issue 48
    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions