ERIN RUZICKA TRONDSON

space

Paper Boats

Swaths of time pass in the shower  

with the hot water raining on my wrists. 

 

This year I keep using up thoughts on very small things:  

a soft fold, tissue-thin skin, a wiry strand of hair. 

 

Although today there was quick pride at my reflection in the store window. 

Finally! This is who I always felt I was! 

 

I have held a petal-thin champagne flute high above my head for years. 

A toast! A toast! A toast!  

 

Tomorrow this poem will be tucked with me all day,  

buoying me up, a little life-raft in my handbag. 

 

I have always been delighted that a paper boat will float.

b 

b

b  

space

ERIN RUZICKA TRONSDON is the winner of the third annual Apprentice House Chapbook Competition for her manuscript Nesting. She was a finalist for the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize in 2013. Trondson’s poetry and fiction have also appeared in such journals as So to Speak, Cold Mountain Review, Cheat River Review, About Place Journal, and Connections. She was a day fellow at Edenfred’s art residency program, part of the Terry Family Foundation. She holds a BA and MS from UW–Madison. She lives in Madison, WI with her husband and daughters.  

Back to Issue 11