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You are here: Home / Poems for Teachers / Swallowed Whole (Original Poem)

Swallowed Whole (Original Poem)

January 29, 2010 By Laura

I’m dashing out the door to present at a Young Authors Conference today, and my workshop involves writing poems about your fears and hopes. So I thought I’d share this poem that I wrote and shared back in 2007 about my biggest fear–a knock at the door with bad news.

Swallowed Whole

“I’m”
      he stands at the front door
      his face like a rubber sheet
      stretched over a toothpick scaffolding
      carrying death in the pocket of his
      navy blue uniform
      orderly, with perfect creases

“sorry”
      before another word crawls from his swamp-mouth
      I inventory:
      who’s not here?
      who will never be here again?
      then I know

my ribs collapse

disintegrate

shrieking winds
shred my empty
skin

my eyes are a blind camera
my legs are just an idea
my life—the future of the world—flashes through my head

      raptors screaming toward me, flapping savage wings
      mechanized gears grinding into me
      trout gasping for water…drying…dying 
      millions of pixels in chaos that form no picture
      ashes pouring down my throat 


my heart
     
     freezes, 
     
     shatters, 
     
     falls

like a white ash tree’s purple-bruised leaves
drifting into
early snow

—Laura Purdie Salas, all rights reserved

Anastasia Suen at Picture Book of the Day has the Poetry Friday Roundup today. Enjoy!

Tagged With: Laura's poems, teen/adult poems

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JANUARY NEWS

I loved the holidays! And I'm so glad they're over. A quiet, snowy January is just what I need. This month, I'm working on two board book manuscripts, and I'm making materials to go with my 3 spring 2023 books.

I'm also busy prepping for upcoming author visits and setting my goals and priorities for 2023. Wishing you a lovely start to your own new year!

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