Sheila Wellehan
Breakage
I break things—
vases, dinner plates, friendships.
I stomp and I scare and I smash.
I pound what I love
into a fine powder with a hammer,
then grind the dust into the ground
with my heels.
When I sweep up the mess,
hours or years later,
I breathe in the vapor
of what I’ve destroyed.
It seeps into every cell
and swims through
my bloodstream. I break things,
then they break me
from the inside.
Heist
It looked like salvation,
or at least sustenance,
something to get me through the night.
The humble potato at the 7-11
was bathed in holy florescent light.
I studied the staff, overwhelmed
by the crush of midnight customers.
I watched other shoppers,
busy scooping up six-packs
and microwaving dubious snacks.
I placed my hand gingerly on the potato.
I wrapped my fingers around it, trying to hide it.
Then I whooshed the potato into my pocket.
I’d have food with my whiskey tonight—
if I didn’t get caught.
I wandered up and down the aisles,
pretending to scan them, pretending to consider
boxes of Hostess Donettes and cans of SpaghettiOs.
No one suspected my thievery.
No one acknowledged my existence.
No one noticed me at all.
Emboldened by my success in evading detection,
I snatched a mini-cup of Half & Half
at the coffee dispenser near the door.
I popped it into my other pocket
then casually sauntered out.
Walking home to my basement apartment,
I felt the haul sheltered in my pockets,
and smiled at my fortune, my wealth.
I caressed the potato’s smooth hollows
and mysterious pebbles, the Half & Half’s slick plastic ribs.
I’d harvested sustenance
to fill my belly and fuel me,
luxury to transform the staple into a delicious dish.
I felt ancestors from Sligo, Cork, and Kerry
nod approvingly at me.
Sheila Wellehan’s poetry is featured in On the Seawall, Psaltery & Lyre, Rust & Moth, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Whale Road Review, and many other publications. She’s served as an assistant poetry editor for The Night Heron Barks and an associate editor for Ran Off With the Star Bassoon. Sheila lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. You can read her work at www.sheilawellehan.com .
