Two Poems by Sheila Murphy

Photo by Dipak Tolani on Unsplash

Impaired

A man beside me dutifully picks up smooth, 
round stones. We speak of his several surgeries. 
His hand still cupped. He tells me he used to correct 
the put-together furniture that came in a box. 
The directions were often wrong. He would try 
to make it right, then wind up throwing 
the whole thing away. His wife put a stop to this. 
A few feet away, the physical therapist is making me 
a new hard plastic brace for my left hand. Sleek, 
in contrast to the Clampett-y compression bandage 
that picked up soil. My hands are being warmed 
beneath white towels. The therapist's assistant 
is an undergraduate rugby player. We talk about 
the Olympics. I reference my gymnast niece. 
The woman to my left, a friend from the other day,
is twirling what appears a colorful toy to build her wrists 
beyond asymptomatic carpal tunnel syndrome. 
She wishes me a good weekend. This place 
is like a pretty school filled with smart, kind teachers. 
We students have full lives. We're dutiful and care. 
Keep our appointments. Do homework. 
And move slowly, gather threads of understanding 
with hope that we may last. 

---

I Think of Children

I think of children half often.
Their small clothes. They walk yards.

My yard is clean with lawn. 
I hear small voices rehearsing to be young.

I am young for the first time.
When a child I was old with obligations.

Obligations turned obbligati in the nest of night.
Flute sounds occupied wild staves.

I heard wilderness in whole tones harmonized.
Imagine being part of a choir of bells.

Bell sounds call me to attention.
I pay attention to the spells.

Are there blooms in the spells? 
How do they perfume shared selves?

I wait for shared selves in walked yards.
The many episodes themselves become children. 

---

Sheila E. Murphy. Poems have appeared in Poetry, Hanging Loose, Fortnightly Review, and numerous others. Most recent book: Permission to Relax (BlazeVOX Books, 2023). Received the Gertrude Stein Award for Letters to Unfinished J. (Green Integer Press, 2003). Murphy's book titled Reporting Live from You Know Where (2018) won the Hay(na)Ku Poetry Book Prize Competition from Meritage Press (U.S.A.) and xPress(ed) (Finland). 

Her Wikipedia page can be found at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Murphy