What Form
It took me forty-five years
to really look in the mirror.
I am just now able to stand
myself. Wearing yellow
I am a loud sun,
a city burning. I wonder
in what form I might live
forever. I want to walk
to the corner store
and meet my husband
for the first time again.
I want to let him see me
monstrous and beautiful,
now that I am unafraid of light.
Natalie Marino is a poet and practicing physician. Her work appears in Heavy Feather Review, Pleiades, Rust & Moth, Salt Hill, wildness and elsewhere. She is the author of the chapbook Under Memories of Stars (Finishing Line Press, 2023). She lives in California. You can find her online at nataliemarino.com or on Instagram @natalie_marino.