Who do you think you are? The times are asking, you are who? I see myself in pictures and picas reflections in a merciless mirror I am not who you think I am Who are the neighbors next door? undocumented pilgrims from the Jordan their lesser hajj a Hudson landing to birth American daughters blossoming delight When I sent the children home their father was smoking a hookah When venturing outdoors their mother wears a hijab They are not who I think they are The children dress in style, more adept at applying makeup than I am What is made up? Yesterday the two-year-old climbed into my arms I am a childless woman past 70 whose family imprint is smudged I am a childless woman past 70 with the sudden shock of motherhood nuzzled at my breast I am not who I thought I was. /////// Susan Chute is a poet, librarian, archivist, book artist, and curator/founder of Next Year’s Words: a New Paltz Readers Forum, now beginning its 10th year, where she is known for her introductions to readers. She has recently been published in La Presa, in Lightwood, in Shawangunk Review, in the CAPS (Calling All Poets) 2020 anthology; in Reflecting Pool: Poets and the Creative Process (Codhill Press, 2018) and the Wallkill Valley Writer’s Anthology 2015. Her writing also appears on the blogs of The New York Public Library and Women’s Studio Workshop. She taught an Introduction to Poetry course at the Univ. of Pittsburgh, and co-taught another poetry class called The Colored Line, the Pictured Word for The New York Public Library. She holds an MFA in Theatre from the Univ. of Michigan, and an MLIS from Pratt Institute. More of Susan Chute's writing can be read here on Lightwood. Click on our Search Button and insert her name,
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