Laurie Kolp

When the Room Becomes a Funeral Parlor *

 
In the claws of these four paneled walls, antique mirrors
rattle as the plane passes low. It’s spraying mosquitos, but I can
only think of war and wonder who the night will kill.
Fear consumes me as you streak the air with nicotine and
tell me how your father fought to live. We talk
as if the world forgot how war destroys us. I hope they
don’t know what hit them, the mosquitos in the field. Are
the weeks going to turn to months, to years? How terrible
my reflection gets when death confines me to these rooms.

*Golden Shovel-“Mirrors can kill and talk, they are terrible rooms,” from Sylvia Plath’s poem, The Courage of
Shutting Up

Laurie Kolp is the author of Upon the Blue Couch and Hello, It's Your Mother. Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, anthologies, and online publications including MORIA Literary Magazine, Whale Road Review, SWWIM, and more. As an educator, Laurie brings poetry into the schools through sponsorship of contests and poetry appreciation events. She lives in southeast Texas with her husband, three children, and two dogs. You can follow her on Twitter at @KolpLaurie or Instagram at lkkolp.