Sosha Pinson
2013 Poetry Contest Judge's Selection
~
Abandoned Daughter’s Praise Song
I praise the open palm of draught offering my mother
a stone I praise as round as the head of a newborn
in a dried-up creek bed I praise the patience of water
years it peeled away rough edges I praise like skin
of an orange I praise my mother’s clean tongue to lick
the salt and sand off the stone’s bottom I praise dream
cries she hears I praise the wincing way she opens her shirt
seeing stone has no mouth to suckle squeezing her breast
I praise the milk that does not come but water I praise stone
refusing to drink I praise crumbling against her chest I
praise Mother emptying without pause I praise ponds
up to her thighs rising
~
Sosha Pinson is a 24-year-old eastern Kentucky native currently residing in Fairfax, Virginia. She is attending Drew University's Low Residency MFA Program in Poetry and working full time as an office assistant for Inspiration Plumbing. In her spare time she crochets and daydreams about mountains.
