Portrait of a Migraineur
by Stephanie Smith


By the burning light of a daily migraine I
watch life through the shield of my parlor window.

Children—afflicted with chicken pox—stroll
hand-in-hand with fish down summer sidewalks.

Zombies in trees fling paper airplanes
at girls passing by. Skeletons ride

up and down my block on bicycles
built for two…all in the pouring rain.

This migraine has grown a mind of its own,
as you can plainly see. The pain proceeds

to shackle me to this window, to this scene. I scrape
at the glass; my broken wings dig into my back.






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