Sarah E. Colona lives and teaches in her home state of New Jersey. She is the author of Thimbles (dancing girl press, 2012) and Hibernaculum (Gold Wake Press, 2013). Sarah's poems also appear in Unruly Catholic Women Writers: Creative Responses to Catholicism (SUNY, 2013).
genealogy
count backward from self
tracing the names before you
a daughter was August porch light
a son snow drift and stalled car
stop at the intersection and join
morning suit tuxedo with veil lace
pause then cross out the equation
forget shared headstone chilled lily
hear ice stack at naptime
taste Manhattan puff Virginia Slim
count backward and begin
to draw parallel and parenthetical
tracing the names before you
crib death and census quest
a daughter was charred doll
a son an island beacon
strip each villain of mistakes
reset to baptism bare bassinet
count backward and accept
tracing the names before you
a daughter was grave dust
a son the seed that took root