Out of Stone
I used to watch Ronnie take off his leg—
the buckles, straps and socks that padded
his red, chapped stump above the knee,
or was it below? I can’t remember now.
Three decades blur my backward look
so all I see is him: a North Philly tough
with a tumbled heart who smoked & drank
enough to lure a college girl on the fringe.
I loved the dangers of his face—how boys
went from sweet to beast, grew beards
and appetites that healed even as they hurt.
Enough to scour my skin insatiable pink
as he pressed his space face close to mine
under a four foot poster of Ziggy Stardust.
He rasped a rough path to my dorm room,
and this was art, not seduction, as we made
raw contentment out of our disfigurement,
two freaks carving each other into being.
Sheila Kelly is a retired psychotherapist who writes poems and plays in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She leads writing workshops in libraries, community centers, and art galleries and believes in the special power of generative writing in groups as a source of healing, connection with others and growth in the writing craft. She is a regular facilitator at the Squirrel Hill Library's Writers' Studio which meets every Sunday and is open to all. Sheila thanks the poets and teachers of Pittsburgh Poetry Exchange, the Madwomen in the Attic poetry workshops and East End Poets for their generosity and insights over the years. Most recent poems are in The Comstock Review, Paterson Literary Review and Pittsburgh Poetry Review. Sheila lives with her husband, daughter, 2 cats, 5 chickens and several spiders from Mars.
