Portrait of Suburban Housewife as Missing Woman

Portrait of Suburban Housewife as Missing Woman

Original Text

Sachiko Murakami. The Invisibility Exhibit. Vancouver, British Colombia: Talonbooks, 2008.

1Mouth open, she looked as though she was protesting
2her inclusion. I brought her to a place
3where no one speaks. There’s been a mistake,
4she said with the soft folds
5of her tracksuit, the car keys
6she held like a set of brass knuckles.
7You can’t take me anywhere I don’t wish to go.
8I did have to drive out of town to take this picture.
9As evidence, it was the next day’s news.
10Now it’s so obvious, her clavicle’s hard line,
11the shadow there, a hollow big enough for two thumbs.
RPO poem Editors
Jim Johnstone
RPO Edition
2013
Special Copyright

Poem used with permission of the author.