At night from the tired grey couch, or in the white chairs out back when it was warm and clear, we talked of other places: Scotland, the Badlands, maybe Charleston. For weeks we calculated mileage and lodging costs, how many days of care for the dogs, how many hours in the car our five-year-old could […]
Emily Patterson
Emily Patterson (she/her) is the author of The Birth of Undoing (Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2025), as well as three chapbooks. Her poetry appears in North American Review, SWWIM, Stirring, The Penn Review, CALYX, The Shore, and elsewhere. Emily lives with her family in Columbus, Ohio and works as a curriculum designer with Highlights for Children. Read more at emilypattersonpoet.com.
At Elyse’s Baby Shower
You wake up hungry and hollering so we leave the other guests, wandering the church basement hallway to find an empty meeting room where I sit on a folding chair to feed you as sunlight dyes the room gold. The carpet is undeniably seventies, yarn like, a potpourri palette, and there’s the smell of old […]