When they canonized me, I felt a buzz in my leg.
I was anointed by a bottle left over; once lost,
now found. Limbs loosening with the flickering of
some overhead light. I felt slack in my jaw.
This made my words kinder– softened upon impact.
My chest swung open like an ornate jewellery box.
The spring-loaded doors said,
“Welcome any and all!”
The opening lied, to me and anyone who’d listen,
– heavily, into its megaphone;
saying: I had never been hurt before and
never would ever be again. The people
around me, heard the call and started filling
the cavity in my chest, like a pantry. This
was most astounding of all because—
I hadn’t even asked them to.
The compliments felt so nice.
I stowed them away–tucked in hiding places
where they kept me warm like a
lavender aroma pillows
heated on a cold night– by someone
for the sake of you.
But the concerns felt nicer;
to be worrying someone like that,
having someone thinking long and
hard about your ongoings –
well that sure felt the nicest of all.
Kendall Snee is a Pittsburgh Poet and 10th grade English teacher. Snee serves as a board member for Write Pittsburgh, a coalition to help further Pittsburgh's writers' place within the city. Snee is the current writer-in-residence at City Books. She performs live with the Pittsburgh Poetry Collective/Steel City Slam.