by Aleena Sharif
My Simple
—after Audre Lorde
I have swallowed a fishhook the times I forgot
to remember the fish heart pulsing my ribcage
seeking release to wider swimming
free of flares’ hydrothermal vents,
only to take the bait and face the piercing
whose absence gave me all I need of pleasure
by slighter safety in knowing I have not flared,
though I can’t pretend this remission will last.
For as long as it does, the simple dazzles—
the way five fingers open and close like gills
breathing freely—but open spaces bind me
as much as any shark cage or fish net.
Let anger channel my single-oared boat,
rowing while turkey vultures whirl—
freedom possible only if I abandon oar
and float, trusting ocean to drift me
to the shore of this sea stocked
with every fish I’d rather eat than be.
Pam Sinicrope has an MFA in poetry from Augsburg University and a doctorate in public health. Some of her work can be found in SWWIM, Spillway, The Night Heron Barks, Aethlon, Appalachian Journal, and 3 Elements Review. Pam lives in Rochester, MN, where she works as a medical writer and is a senior poetry editor for RockPaperPoem. She can be found on Instagram at @lefty_t_mom.
Aleena Sharif was born in Pakistan and went to school at Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She graduated with a BFA and a minor in Art History. After graduating she has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, London, Italy, Pakistan as well as many virtual galleries. She currently continues her practice between California and Pakistan where she holds open studies in hope to create a safe space for nude paintings to be shown.