Addy Sigmon

Poetry

Leave the window open, just in case

take me to the lagoon where mermaids hum and

              fairies fly I

                           remember the address       second star

                                             straight on till

                                        mourning has taken its toll 

                                                    echoing agony

                                              becomes my only alarm clock

                        you used to read me to sleep, rub my back, whisper prayers

                                    I told you        stay until I fall asleep

                                                you fell asleep first

                        no matter how many times I clapped             or

                                                                                        yelled   I believe I believe   I   do   believe

your eyes did not flutter open             and I was stuck in a

                           land where children must grow up

Dogs do pick a favorite

i wake up to you 
licking my toes 

when i sit on the couch 
you snuggle your head atop 
my thigh unless you 
decide to sulk on her chair 

at lunch-time you 
nudge my arm reminding 
me to re-fill your water bowl
 i always forget  

your hair has clumped 
into knots and I can’t find 
where she last placed the brush

i rub your neck
and notice how you 
hold tension there too

do you sleep all the time 
because you have 
migraines like me?

are the streaks 
under your eyes a 
 stain of your breed   or 
   unceasing tears?

you curl up and 
pout on a blanket if i forget
you’re supposed to get 
a treat after you poop 
and call you “good girl” 
the way she would have

you sit alert by the sliding-glass-
doors watching   waiting   wondering if
she is at the store  or  blowing leaves just 
20 feet from where you now perch

i convince you to grab 
a toy   i yank it   you pull it from
my hands   victory spin   which
distracts you for a little while 

by night-night time as
you lick my ears before 
settling under the covers 
i think back to when 
i wasn’t your first choice

when your little body didn’t 
saturate my bed with heat
because a night with me was
only a last resort


Addy Sigmon is a student at Lipscomb University, elbow-embracer, experiences the frequent migraine, and is unaware of the term “inside voice.” When not writing poetry, she indulges in memes, scolds children at the local elementary school, and grows her collection of “borrowed” cafeteria plates.

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