Punctuation, a Poem From Stay

Coteau Books, 2017; Shadowpaw Press Reprise Edition, 2022

I’ve got

the longest

ponytail in class,

a blonde

question

marking

curling

my

spine.

If my hair

could ask,

would mother

brush

and comb

the answer?

Sweep my suspicions

into an updo?

Or braid

and tie

another lie?

                                    Katherine Lawrence from Stay (Shadowpaw Press, 2022)