Mitchener, Kelsey

English

ValpoScholar

	   1	  
On	  Days	  Like	  Today	  
Kelsey	  Mitchener	  	  When	  I	  wake	  sprawled	  on	  sheets	  twisted	  by	  spasms	  of	  restless	  sleep—	  my	  eyes	  hot	  inside	  my	  skull	  and	  winter-­‐dry	  hair	  a	  wild	  curtain	  that	  snaps	  against	  the	  brush—	  I	  sense	  the	  shadow	  of	  my	  grandmother	  as	  a	  young	  woman,	  tied	  and	  trembling	  against	  a	  hard	  bed,	  electricity	  a	  thick	  tongue	  licking	  clean	  her	  brain’s	  fevered	  folds—	  and	  I	  long	  to	  break	  outside	  and	  bless	  the	  damp	  gusts	  of	  spring	  that	  smear	  across	  my	  forehead	  like	  a	  chill	  soothing	  hand.	  
 


On Days Like Today

Valparaiso University

	   1	  On	  Days	  Like	  Today	  Kelsey	  Mitchener	  	  When	  I	  wake	  sprawled	  on	  sheets	  twisted	  by	  spasms	  of	  restless	  sleep—	  my	  eyes	  hot	  inside	  my	  skull	  and	  winter-­‐dry	  hair	  a	  wild	  curtain	  that	  snaps	  against	  the	  brush—	  I	  sense	  the	  shadow	  of	  my	  grandmother	  as	  a	  young	  woman,	  tied	  and	  trembling	  against	  a	  hard	  bed,	  electricity	  a	  thick	  tongue	  licking	  clean	  her	  brain’s	  fevered	  folds—	  and	  I	  long	  to	  break	  outside	  and	  bless	  the	  damp	  gusts	  of	  spring	  that	  smear	  across	  my	  forehead	  like	  a	  chill	  soothing	  hand.	   

https://scholar.valpo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1031&context=commonthread

On Days Like Today

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