Naked, I thought of Yeats,
and gave what other women gave
In the dark room,
features fading to negative
I wished to think of love
and not of quotes
all bones and bruised shadows
My name, the flesh you called to
my face burned into bed linen
a holy shroud
The body that does not belong to me
the words that do
about the author
Sharon Hoffmann is a writer based in Atlantic Beach, Florida. Publications (past and forthcoming) include Dodo Eraser, Burial, The Hooghly Review, New York Quarterly, Beloit Poetry Journal, Alice Walker: Critical Perspectives (Harvard University Press), Magazine1, Paddler Press, South Florida Poetry Journal, Letters, Wild Roof, Sho Poetry Journal, Blood+Honey, and other magazines. Awards include fellowships from Atlantic Center for the Arts and Florida’s Division of Cultural Affairs, three Pushcart nominations and a nomination for Best Spiritual Literature.