On Geysers

By. Annie Marhefka

i’ve seen three geysers erupt
one in reykjavik, the backdrop a glacial terrain
another in Yellowstone, that faithful one
the third came from my mother’s gut

beneath her placid surface
her grief boiled and swirled
uncertainty seething
bubbles of her emptiness expanding

she tamed the anxiety
with a dab of pale pink lip gloss
a little concealer under her eyes
a quiet, sweet smile, lips pressed closed

she masked her bony frame
with wide sleeves and billowy shawls
protein shakes for breakfast
vomit for dessert

and when the grief consumed her body
it spewed a scalding steam
cracking through the fragile fissures
bursting with the tension of what she had held

Annie spent the majority of her career working as an HR executive, where she was fascinated with dissecting how people interact and form connections—the same subject matter she most often writes about in her poems and creative nonfiction. She now spends her time writing, being a mama, and doing some HR consulting. She also serves as Executive Director of Yellow Arrow Publishing Co. which supports women-identifying writers in Baltimore. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in Coffee + Crumbs, The Phare literary magazine, Capsule Stories, Cauldron Anthology, and The Elpis Pages. You can find her writing on Instagram @anniemarhefka, Twitter @charmcityannie, and at anniemarhefka.com.

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