At the Party

You come up to me and speak,
lean in close, dark
curls and eyes like theirs,

the two big girls
who stopped me, not to play.
My little arms and legs

a jumble. Drowning
without the water.
Some memories leave

scars so pale and thin
they’re almost invisible.
Like little crescent moons.

Was it fingers? Was it
tongues? Maybe I cried
and tried to run away.

Blueberries for dessert.
I am civil and polite
as a still-life.

Elisabeth Murawski is the author of Heiress, Zorba’s Daughter (May Swenson Poetry Award winner, 2010), Moon and Mercury, and three chapbooks. Still Life with Timex won the Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize. Alias Irene will be published in October, 2025. A native of Chicago, Elisabeth lives in Alexandria, VA.