Sophie Gregory ​

[The Owl]

Glued a voice to the ear. Left its shoes on the mat. My father’s japanese movies. Imprinted
stomach scars. Showed the thing what was there. Not much. Blue ripples. Oars in an Italian
canal. Two blind pianists. A bucket of Elmer’s. Far from the factory laughs were miracles.
Sounds of pasta boiling over. The brakes were shit. Cave cases. Instruments of brass. Made
forts. Kept together with glue. The roof got sticky. If it dripped the moon was giving us milk.
Summers went. Everything was beautiful. Winters went. Tied false with the perfect bow.
Layed in the snow. Quiet. The head voice even in the stillness. Falling in the fishing hole. Got
buried in frozen water. Wet glue. Even kids know to keep water away from fresh crafts. Took
ill in the bathtub. Sometime between glances. Changes happen. Cheaper stuff. A month. Glue
peeling off your palm. A person’s fleshy funeral. One meant for the corn snake. The days that
wilt. Chrysanthemums. Real pirates. Didn’t think much kept its beauty anymore. Sunflowers
have been off the map for weeks. Don’t need it to see. Water over the ribs. From bathtub to
bed. Sun shined on horseshoe prints in my skin. Repeat. Turned nocturnal. Name means
wisdom. Invisible ink glows through highly lit eyes. I am the insomniac detective. Needle
coffee in the morning. Nights too. These days. Dizzy. I am. I am still. Thank space. The Owl.

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Sophie Gregory is currently studying the poetry and the written arts at Bard College in the blue Hudson Valley. Her work has so far been published in John Hopkins’ Zeniada Magazine (Poem - For One Day) and in the Writers of Gainesville Bacon Literary Journal (Poem - Astrovan). She spends her days swimming in language and watching her dog dream in the aquatic; she adores her best friend, Henry.