In the sepia photo
the ferry chugs toward Keansburg.
My skinny arms akimbo, proud
of my flowered skirt and tee shirt
sporting the Mickey Mouse decal
I pressed on myself,
I stand a few feet in front of you,
mother and oldest sister,
sitting shoulder to shoulder
in the wooden deck chairs.
But this time, as though there were
can’t miss bargain fares,
her heart sinking from her first chemo,
your deck mate boards first, Mother.
Then you clamber aboard, too,
your lungs bloated with sorrow,
casting out in low tide,
me anchored to the shore,
shrinking.
Most recently, Liz Dolan’s first poetry manuscript has been nominated for the Robert McGrath Prize and she has been published in On the Mason Dixon Line: An Anthology of Contemporary Delaware Writers. A four-time Pushcart nominee and Delaware Division of the Arts fellowship winner, she serves on the poetry board of Philadelphia Stories. She has also published poems, memoir and short stories in New Delta Review, Rattle, Harp Weaver, The Cortland Review, Illuminations, Prism International Quarterly, Philadelphia Stories and Natural Bridge, among others. Her work in Mudlark was chosen for The Best of the Web by Web Del Sol and she was also selected as a finalist in "The Art Of Storytelling Contest" by the Delaware Art Museum. She is most proud of the offsite school she ran in The Bronx and her eight grandchildren who live on the next block in Rehoboth and who keep her young.