for steve dalachinsky
In the last diary entry of an unknown
bridge and tunnel girl who brought the Sound Beach shuffle
to the Limelight in the 80s wearing my bifocals
and mom sweater now making leftovers for breakfast
and ice cream for dinner and my daughter somehow
made it to 26 wondering how I made it past 26
in this dog eat dog world in the battle of the boroughs
honoring the small defiances my grandmother
made against her mother of a dirty water nyc hot dog
curing traffic on the Wantagh Parkway in my mind
for the betterment of all mankind sighing in agreement
missing the exit but solving all of the problems of mankind
in the blink of a blinker driving through Bellmore
on Sunrise Highway by mistake now exposing
in this moment your mother’s secret ingredient
to her secret family recipe for meatballs is parsley
and the missing snow peas substituted for
string beans giving me a stomach ache
not convenient on the road eating cold food
a bad habit heating in a living room microwave
for my baby another microwave mother
working two jobs and my littlest one now so focused
on career talking about moving to Buffalo to follow a girl

KELLY POWELL is a poet native to Long Island. She is a graduate of Binghamton University, Creative Writing Program and proud single mother of a transgender graduate of Stonybrook University. She’s always glad to be here.