On Loan

I’ve carried the same
quilted handbag since June.
Floral and white,
a spring wedding on my arms.
The leather wallet
(something blue)
stuffed with faded receipts.
I reach for it at thrift stores
where something old
becomes my something new.

The summer, every teacher knows,
is borrowed.

*

Mehnaz Sahibzada is the author of the poetry collection, My Gothic Romance (2019, Finishing Line Press) as well as the Art of Strangeness, forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. She is a 2022 Jack Hazard Fellow in fiction writing for her first novel in progress, Jaani, a gothic coming-of-age story set in post-partition Pakistan. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, On the Run, Mystery Magazine, Ellery Queen, Jaggery, Strange Horizons, and elsewhere. A high school English teacher, she lives in Los Angeles. For inquiries, contact Mehnaz through her website at poetmehnaz.com