Elaine Sorrentino
Elaine Sorrentino, author of Belly Dancing in a Brown Sweatsuit (Kelsay Books, 2025) has been published in journals such as Minerva Rising, Willawaw Journal, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, Gyroscope Review, The Ekphrastic Review, Quartet Journal, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, Cool Beans Lit, and Haikuniverse. She lives in Massachusetts, holds a journalism degree from Suffolk University, and is facilitator of the Duxbury Poetry Circle.
Blessings From the Char
After flames licked the walls,
danced up the stairs
in a fiery tango of devastation,
engulfed their vacant beds,
a grateful community wrapped
them in a shawl of compassion.
Memories and milestones,
teddy bears and Timberlands
obliterated by the winter blaze
that spared the donation shed,
where, for years, they collected
essentials to help those in crisis.
When fate turned the tables,
past recipients of rice, diapers, boots
placed their own feet in these scorched shoes,
surrendering hard-earned greenbacks
to ensure their benefactors had food
in their bellies, clothing on their backs,
and a place to throw their bones down.
This family never expected anything in return,
more than happy to help a neighbor.
