Shevaun Brannigan
Poetry
Shevaun Brannigan’s work has appeared in such journals as Best New Poets, AGNI, and Slice. She is a recipient of a Barbara J. Deming Fund grant and holds an MFA from Bennington College.
Frank Learns to Juggle During Quarantine
I.
His hands are pinball flippers.
We’re going crazy in here.
The juggling balls pop
from his palm to the air,
to palm, to palm.
I assign them their symbols.
One ball will be fear.
The second will be love.
The last, persistence.
The persistence of love,
the love of fear,
the fear of persistence,
the unknown, to be caught
or to catch, so much up in the air,
fear is in the air,
Frank holds love,
Frank holds persistence.
II.
I have dropped love,
woken up and found it
in bed beside me.
The beautiful face
he wears sleeping.
I have gripped fear, I have lost
persistence, saw it roll
under the couch and let it go.
The quarantine continues on
despite me.
I watch him juggle,
I watch him cope.
My love, tossing
an easy ball
caught neat in his palm.
I loop the mask around my ears.
III.
The beautiful face
he wears sleeping;
outdoors, he winks, mask-mouthed,
the fabric sucks in
as he holds his breath,
juggling for the little boy
who stands
so far away.
“ This poem was written over three weeks, with consultation from my (virtual) workshop group, led by Steven Kleinman. I am grateful to them for pushing it to this version. ”
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