Strays in the Drawer: A Poem

Strays in the Drawer

by Donna Talarico

I could almost be fully clothed
if I put on everything in that drawer

Strays in a drawer
left behind in the scramble in leaving in the morning
Or forgotten in the stupor the night before

Little memories of good times
with good boys
who are just good friends

I have:
Brian’s socks
Derek’s tie
Tim’s undershirt
and a pair of sweatpants from an ex-boyfriend
Mark or Dan; I forget.

Tim’s undershirt wasn’t actually left behind in my bedroom because it actually made its way back in a suitcase
from a weekend excursion in Boston
where I met him and Sam Adams (Sam Adams first)
and he was from New York York
and he puked on my foot
and we had fun

I wonder if Derek ever looked for that tie again
Maybe he did
If his dress shirt was baby blue or navy blue or mint green

And now that sandal season is over, will Brian notice the argyle socks missing from his own drawer?

I’d look pretty silly if I wore them all at once
But maybe I will
I could take a self portrait
and post it on Facebook
and tag each item of clothing
with each boy’s name
and people would wonder.
Let them wonder.

I’d look pretty silly with a colorful striped tie
hung over a white tank top that people call a wife beater
worn with black sweat pants that don’t stay put around my waist
bottomed off with preppy socks
I don’t even know how to tie a tie
So maybe I won’t wear them all at once

I wonder if they think about these stray articles
And if they wonder about these stray articles,
Do they ever wonder about me?

Strays in the Drawer inspired by these real strays in her real drawer.

Dreamspinning: A Poem

Dreamspinning

by Donna Talarico

My cursor blinks
A spider crawls across the wall
Climbs high and passes under the fabric D
that begins a string of letters that spell
D-r-e-a-m

My spider friend is looking for somewhere to begin his work
as I stray from mine

I think about the web of words
I’m trying to weave
but all I get is tangled
stuck in corner
never getting further than a string of ideas

My D-r-e-a-m is just a string of letters.

I wish that I were a spider
Then I could weave
something beautiful, something strong
like a web

The spider stops for a second
inspired by a long worn off sticky tab
that once held an inspirational poster

The spider keeps going
It can’t find a place to start either

Dreamspinning by Donna Talarico, inspidered by this spider and my wall hanging.