Made in America
I am no one in America without a
job. Who would I be without one?
Like a god, hate, or war— not meant to fathom.
Certainly I would’ve written more.
Every decision I’ve made and
make, takes daily costs into
consideration.
I think about my farm-born dog sold
with a damaged spine and pain, who
bit as much as possible— a bee, a
stone, my left wrist during pregnancy.
If I ask, would you tell me
how much you make?
Every day I think about economies of sky,
flowers, air. So much Nature owned,
leveraged, leased in a fossil fuel world.
Today, I am cocky and think about
free will, and my own economy.
I’ve worked. I work. I am.
In my twenties, I catered, served
food and cocktails. I’ve earned
in the film industry, for nonprofits,
cleaned other people’s toilets,
taught, on the books and off.
I’ve had cruel bosses; a few were kind.
I’ve had nothing; I’ve had enough.
Like my dog, I am overbred.
Assembled repeatedly.
Into what have I been made?
To live in America is to be minted,
to orphan oneself.
H.E. Fisher (she/they) is the author of the collection STERILE FIELD (Free Lines Press, 2022) and chapbook JANE ALMOST ALWAYS SMILES (Moonstone Arts Center Press, 2022). H.E.’s poems have appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Psaltery & Lyre, Ligeia Magazine, Whale Road Review, Pithead Chapel, and Rogue Agent, among other publications. H.E. was awarded City College of New York’s 2019 Stark Poetry Prize and has received nominations for Best of the Net and The Pushcart Prize. H.E. is a recipient of the Poets Afloat and Stonecrop Gardens residencies and a Rockland County Council for the Arts (ACOR) 2024 Artists Support grant. H.E. is an editor, writing coach/tutor, and health literacy activist, and lives in the Hudson River Valley.
The Marbled Sigh 