About Ownership

by Rose Mary Boehm


Even her dolls were
on loan from a cousin.

The flat was rented and
soon would be a hole in the ground,
the ever-changing
geography of her existence.

Trains, planes, hotels and
badlands of circumstance.
She survived.

The house owned by the bank.
Husbands coming and going.

Then she fell into the eye
of the tornado. Stunned.
Her children claimed her.
And they would own her
as long as she could breathe.


* * * * *

"About Ownership" was first published in Rose Mary Boehm's poetry collection The Rain Girl (Chaffinch Press, 2020).

Rose Mary Boehm is a German-born British national living and writing in Lima, Peru, and author of two novels as well as seven poetry collections. Her poetry has been published widely in mostly US poetry reviews (online and print). She was twice nominated for a Pushcart. Her latest: Do Oceans Have Underwater Borders? (Kelsay Books, July 2022), Whistling in the Dark (Cyberwit, July 2022), and Saudade (Kelsay Books, December 2022) are available on Amazon. https://www.rose-mary-boehm-poet.com/