Tag: Jessica D. Thompson

Apology Flowers by Jessica D. Thompson

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Apology Flowers

After an argument, he buys her a grocery store
bouquet. Two weeks later, she tears apart

his apology flowers—the pink roses, white
lilies, purple and yellow mums, the red-striped

carnations—trying to salvage what has not
decayed. She carries the bones of them

out to the garden—the spent blooms,
the limp stems. To the winter garden

of stubborn dirt clods and dry stalk stubbles.
They never got to enjoy last summer’s sweet

corn. The raccoons got there before
they could harvest anything of worth.

The bouquet grows smaller. Today, she lifts
the last rose from its tall watery grave.

She finds a smaller vase, fills it to the brim
with fresh water, fluffs the fading flower

heads. Wipes away the fallen petals.

*

Jessica D. Thompson’s poems have appeared in magazines and journals such as ONE ART, Verse Daily, Thimble, Gyroscope Review, Sheila-Na-Gig, Eclectica, the Southern Review, and are forthcoming in Critical Humanities (Marshall University). In 2024, her poetry collection “Daybreak and Deep” was shortlisted for the Indiana Authors Award. Her poetry collection, “The Mood Ring Diaries,” released in 2025, was a finalist in the American Book Fest Best Book Awards for Narrative Poetry. Jessica has worked as a carhop, led groups into wild caves, answered crisis hotlines, and was a recruiter for a global corporation before retiring to a small cabin in the middle of a hardwood forest.

Our 3-Ring Kitchen by Jessica D. Thompson

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Our 3-Ring Kitchen

mother did the laundry
in our eat-in kitchen

like a trained circus animal
the wringer-washer

sat in a corner
waiting to be led

to the arena
linoleum patchwork

of green and white squares
marked with trails

from years of migrations
to a porcelain sink

the rubber hose
a curious trunk

this was the room
where my sister would sit

alone long after
the dishes were done

like a feral girl
refusing to eat

everything on her plate
her bible-black eyes

a flashing stampede
toward the ring leader

who ruled
from the head of our table

*

Jessica D. Thompson’s poetry has appeared in journals such as Appalachian Review, Still: the Journal, the Midwest Quarterly, Atlanta Review, and the Southern Review as well as in anthologies such as “Women Speak, Vol. 7,” Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. One of her short poems was nominated for a Rhysling Award in 2007. Her chapbook, “Bullets and Blank Bibles,” (Liquid Paper Press) was published by Nerve Cowboy in 2013. She was a finalist in the Joy Bale Boone Poetry Prize (Heartland Review) in 2012 and 2022. Her first full length poetry collection, “Daybreak and Deep,” (Kelsay Books, 2022), was a finalist in the American Book Fest Best Books of 2022 for Narrative Poetry. She lives with her husband, Phil, and their rescue dog, Gloria, on 25 acres in Southern Indiana.