Inscape Parallax

Inscape Parallax

Laura Schaffer

I shut myself in the bathroom to shower
and talk to God. Outside the curtain,
the serrated light along blinds. Inside,
those tilt drops on the vinyl, like seeds,
and the hanging wheel of sponge on its hook.

When I look down, my hinged length sways
from reddened feet, and I remember

walking under the maple last night,
looking up through its arms to see
them change without changing.

Agreements and interruptions moved
with my moving - with a liminal
snap of sky. Static sparking in
the folds of blanket dark.

And I lean now, maybe to gloss
the murmurs streaming in, their vowel
shapes like Shenandoah. And all
those gourds still full of purple martins.

---

Laura Schaffer
Poet & Writer

Laura has published in Dappled Things, St. Austin Review, The Raw Art Review, Appalachian Heritage, and elsewhere. She works as Director of Communications in Belmont Abbey’s Office of College Relations.

Photography by Trude Jonsson Stangel