Wrinkled Memory

Mental Health
Written By Britney Gabbidon
Photo by Dazzle Jam from Pexels

Photo by Dazzle Jam from Pexels

There are pockets in my mind

that empty themselves

hold coins of memory

tight in their folds

become loose in the laundry

tumble and spill

wrinkle with regret

I have forgotten how to use an iron

How to feed it water

How to know it is hot

without burning my fingers

How to press its face against my pockets

without apologizing

How to free its nose so it can breathe

How to not tell it this means hope,

this is freedom,

you will not have your mouth

pressed to board again

I always forget to unplug it

There are pockets in my mind

and coins in my washing machine

and I have forgotten how to iron.

Britney Gabbidon

Britney Gabbidon is a poet from Kingston, Jamaica. She is currently reading for a BA in Literature from the University of the West Indies and intends to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing after completion. She was one of four shortlisted candidates for the Poet Laureate of Jamaica and Helen Zell: Young Writer’s Prize for Poetry in 2018 and has been shortlisted for the 2020 competition. Her work has been published in Interviewing the Caribbean, The Caribbean Writer and New Voices: Selected by Lorna Goodison, Poet Laureate of Jamaica.

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