Claire Scott
Claire Scott is an award-winning poet who has received multiple Pushcart Prize nominations. Her work has appeared in the Atlanta Review, Bellevue Literary Review, New Ohio Review and Healing Muse among others. Claire is the author of Waiting to be Called and Until I Couldn’t. She is the co-author of Unfolding in Light: A Sisters’ Journey in Photography and Poetry.
COVERING OUR BASES
Send prayers
to a god, pick one,
any one, one not likely
to be too busy, like Hebe
or Asclepius, Vidar or Vale,
all waiting to ward off your personal
calamity: the broken remote, the burnt
carrot cake, the missing credit card. What
about a four-leaf clover or a rabbit’s foot tucked
in your pocket or purse to avoid a speeding truck
splattering your brand new entire-paycheck Patagonia
raincoat. Stutter-step to make it even, skipping from twelve
to fourteen. Start over for the sixth time. Don’t forget bypassing
ladders avoiding black cats and hanging a horseshoe over every door.
At my age, I no longer want to take chances. No climbing Kilimanjaro,
skidding on glaciers sliding fifty feet. No parasailing in Acapulco,
terrified the rope will break. No riding a roller coaster with my
grandson hands raised over our heads. Not even driving after
dark or ordering pepperoni pizza, never sure if a murderer
will show up. I wander the rooms with finical steps
in my non-skid slippers, sipping lemon tea. No
crampons on my boots. No cutlass in my
teeth. I live with cold caution, carefully
hoarding the few coins left. My world
shrinking like a wool shirt in the
the wash. But all in all doing
doing OK. Thanks so
much for asking.
