In the Zone 

by Jennifer Abod

 
        for Angela        

Two years after you died
it dawns on me,
I can replace
that smashed, worn-out
bottle brush.

I brave the two-blocks to Ace,
ask the guy in his red apron
to point the way.
At the back wall display
I stand staring in a zoned-out state:

what color
which shape
which bristle
what length,

On the walk home, I notice
Jacaranda trees in bloom,
thrust my hand into the gray plastic bag,
grip the red handle of the blue bottle brush,
brandish it along the sidewalk, like a trophy.


* * * * *

Jennifer Abod, Ph.D., is an award-winning, pioneering feminist/lesbian filmmaker and radio broadcaster. She is a former Assistant Professor of Communication and Women’s Studies, and Corporate Media Specialist. From 1970-1976, she sang with New Haven Women’s Liberation Rock Band. She sings Jazz, weekly, in Long Beach, California, and is working on her first poetry collection.  Her poems appear in Sinister Wisdom, Spices and Seasonings, and One Art Journal. At One Art, find her poems “Envy,” “At the Indian Ocean,” “Rethinking Pink,” and “Dance Lessons.” Her poem, “Turning Point, 1979,” appeared in Metro Weekly. Visit her at jenniferabod.com.