Pieces of Me
by Carol Despeaux Fawcett
Lunch is a bowl of broccoli mash, which means I overcooked the broccoli and since there’s nothing worse than mushy vegetables, I add butter and parmesan, mash it all together with salt and pepper because life is nothing without some seasoning. Second time I’ve overcooked broccoli this week—distracted, overworked, or as my father said to me when I was 16 and accused him of being a drunk, You have your head in the clouds.
Sent to my room, I contemplated my lavender canopy, the slice of moon outside my bedroom window, the sound of voices shouting downstairs that always made me leave my body, pieces of me rising through fabric, light and free like a Van Gogh swirling star—rising, rising to find my real life waiting somewhere in the clouds.
Carol Despeaux Fawcett lives in the Pacific Northwest and earned her MFA degree from Goddard College. She is an award-winning poet published in 34 Orchard, Isele Magazine, Birdhouse Magazine, Dreich Magazine, Out There Literary Magazine, Santa Fe Literary Journal and other journals. Her memoir and poetry won first place in the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Contest. Her first book of poems is, “The Dragon and The Dragonfly” and her website is www.cdfawcett.com.