Artwork © Sally Brown

 

Early Morning Struggles

fall in puddles like the rain
outside the window
on the ground they slowly piddle
dribbling memories hang as curtains

blowing in the breeze
of the big-mouthed window
flapping in the dusty air
wings of penguins that can’t fly

turn from side to side
like a swivel chair
the blackness grows like a fungus
on all of us

we learn not to trust
the nights are taffy
stretching out
pulling and twisting

we’ll shine up
the lines glossy
the next morning
with paint and spray
to begin the day

 

Sandra Wyllie has been writing poetry for the last twelve years. She has been inspired by two great poets, Anne Sexton and Charles Bukowski. She also enjoys nature, singing, and photography. Sandra Wyllie has been published several times in Ibbetson Street Magazine and Oddball Magazine. She has self-published many of her own on Amazon under Sandra L. Wyllie.

Sally Brown is an artist, curator and writer currently based in Morgantown. Her artwork including drawing, painting and performance, explores womanhood, motherhood and the body. She has exhibited her work in spaces nationally and in the UK. She has won two awards for illustration for Intimates and Fools and Leaves of Absence, both with poetry by Laura Madeline Wiseman. She has participated in artist residencies with Stay Home Gallery in TN and Rhoneymeade Sculpture Center in PA; and will be participating in the internationally renowned artist residency, Proyecto Ace, in Buenos Aires, May 2023. Her writing has been published in Hyperallergic, Women’s Art Journal and Artslant, among others. She has curated group shows in Omaha, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Morgantown and Lubbock, TX. She holds a Bachelor of Arts-Studio Art, a Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts- Art History and Feminist Theory. She is a former member of the College Art Association National Committee on Women in the Arts, edited the online journal Les Femmes Folles, and currently serves as Exhibits Coordinator for West Virginia University Libraries.