Sometimes, the break occurs—Lee Krasner
You wake up to a grey world. Sky. Street.
Morning as a weight, heavy with both light
and its absence. Does it matter what colors
make up your regrets? Blue. White. Every
decision is a betrayal of something. You once
dreamed you would write poems on New York
City fire escapes. You didn’t know you would
be so practical, so afraid. Last night, you stayed
calm as a spoon as your daughter smacked you
in the face, her exhausted bedtime rage just another
difficulty in the life you wanted but weren’t clear
or brave enough to shape. You thought you wanted
a partner. You thought you wanted a child. You don’t
know what wanting is anymore. Some tool for achievement.
Perhaps a pen that draws closed the gaps in your
character. Perhaps a knife that stabs out your eyes.
Meghan Sterling
Meghan Sterling (she/they) is a queer/bi writer and mother. She has been published in Tahoma Literary Review, Los Angeles Review, Colorado Review, Rhino Poetry and other journals. You Are Here to Break Apart (Lily Poetry Review Press) came out in 2025. Sick Letters from the Lovebed (Harbor Editions) is forthcoming in 2026. Poet laureate of Gardiner, Maine, read her work at meghansterling.com.
