Cotton Xenomorph is a literary journal produced with the mission to showcase written and visual art while reducing language of oppression in our community. We are dedicated to uplifting new and established voices while engaging in thoughtful conversation around social justice.

We Long Ago Gave Up the Practice of Birthdays: A Pandemic Cento

BY JESSICA L. WALSH

I have my notes—

I have written down everything.

I remember that it happened.

 

I could still dress myself in those days,

although that was the last day.

 

I do not think that we anticipated anything

so severe. I saw no cause for hysteria.

We were reluctant to disturb what is.

 

There is one moment of utter incredulity

before the mind can accept—

and I have never been well since.

 

But we were not all of us overblessed.

Our table is overlarge now,

cleaned, thoroughly washed

and scrubbed with boiling water.

 

There could be no possible danger

in visiting here now.

 

Note: This poem is a cento of lines spoken by Uncle Julian in We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.


Jessica L. Walsh is the author of Book of Gods and Grudges (Glass Lyre Press, 2022) as well as other poetry collections. Her work can be found in RHINO, Whale Road Review, Rogue Agent, Lunch Ticket, and other journals. She teaches at a community college outside of Chicago but goes back to her hometown in rural Michigan whenever she can.

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