Sarah Fawn Montgomery holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from California State University-Fresno and a PhD in creative writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she has worked as Prairie Schooner’s Nonfiction Assistant Editor since 2011. She has a memoir forthcoming with The Ohio State University Press and is the author of two previous poetry chapbooks, Leaving Tracks: A Prairie Guide (Finishing Line Press 2017) and The Astronaut Checks His Watch (Finishing Line Press 2014). Her work has been listed as notable several times in Best American Essays, and her poetry and prose have appeared in various magazines including Crab Orchard Review, DIAGRAM, Fugue, The Los Angeles Review, Natural Bridge, Nimrod, The Normal School, North Dakota Quarterly, Passages North, The Pinch, Puerto del Sol, The Rumpus, Southeast Review, Terrain, Zone 3 and others. She is an Assistant Professor at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.
Prescription Doll
—after ads for the antidepressant Pristiq
Prescription dolls simply need a windup,
pinprick pills to turn keys
in the centers of their tired backs,
gears grinding forward once more.
The melancholy of motherhood—
daily anxiety of a lonely house,
emotion compelled back to normalcy.
laundry and silence for companionship,
the growing, desperate surge that this aching
nothing is the sweetest life will get—
forgotten once chemicals coerce the cogs.
Lurch, prescription doll, body propelled,
Arms wide in Warrior pose,
homemade chocolate cake for husband,
Frisbee with family and golden dog,
now that you’ve swallowed
the ability to be a good mother.
Stand in front of the mirror,
highlights replacing housedress.
Wind yourself up, rosebud mouth. Smile.