Hollie Dugas
Entitlements

Loneliness is a thing like a timeworn boat.
I am entitled to these scraps;
the dry sagging ribs, never to be returned
to the somatic mercy of a mother’s belly.

The body turns
to sediment; a final resting place
of forgotten pearls. Tell me
your damages; small cures
that plunk into the holes.

_ _

Hollie Dugas lives and teaches in New Mexico. When she is not writing poetry, she critiques novels and poetry in small writing workshops. Her work has appeared in publications including Fugue, Folio, Slipstream, Tulane Review, Peregrine, and CALYX. She is currently on the editorial board for Off the Coast.

>> Back to Issue 20, 2017