My Zip Coat

I've lost my battle with my coat.
The puffy, olive green Anne Klein

with two hidden, zippered pockets,
and three zippered pockets in plain view.

The main zipper opens up and down
and gets stuck at either end.

I can handle the bottom stick.
I just step out of the daft trap.

But a top stick is impossible.
I can't pull the coat over my head.

I suspect Ms. Klein saw this flaw
and provided huge snaps to use

on the coat. Just press against yourself
until it hurts and closes tight.

Now, about the Chinese chicken
feathers sneaking out of the seams...

back to issue

Ann Curran is author of the recently released Me First (Lummox Press) and Placement Test (Main Street Rag). Her poetry has appeared in Rosebud Magazine, U.S. 1 Worksheets, The Main Street Rag, Off the Coast, Blueline, Third Wednesday, Notre Dame Magazine, Ireland of the Welcomes, Commonweal Magazine, and others, as well as a number of anthologies. She was a staff writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Catholic, and a longtime editor of Carnegie Mellon Magazine. She is a member of the Squirrel Hill Poetry Workshop in her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.