Crooked pictures
on the walls,
every one askew:
I like that word
— askew —
It sounds like
Ask You
As in:
Did I ask you for your advice?
If you had asked me
I'd have said:
Stop pressing those heart
stickers
and wired clips on
my chest;
Take some time and
straighten the pictures,
The water is in jeopardy of
sliding out of the ocean
and flooding the room,
It won't matter
if my heart is beating in
steady waves of dips and peaks
We'll all drown;
I mentally level the pictures,
First, the one with the listing ship
then the half moon/
half sun mirror
slanting its face
toward the monitor —
Nosy thing:
Did I ask you for your opinion?
I'll be just fine
as soon as I
leave this lopsided room.

Sandy Green has been published in Chicken Soup for the Child's Soul (HCI 2007), Anderbo, Poesia, Evangel, Highlights for Children, Houston Literary Review, joyful!, Pear Noir!, and Shalla. She is a 2008 nominee for Best of the Net. Currently, Sandy lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two children.