Hello World!

A smattering of the pre-published fiction and non-fiction of Linda Lea Walker Wickersham, also known as Lucy Wickersham, and Lea(h) Walker

RENDERINGS

The Baptism

Linda Lea Walker Wickersham

Kitten newness, globed in by doors and boxes and the reach of human arms.

His pound of flesh knows stop and go, shades of gray still to come.

He’s learned to leap and settle beside the bathroom sink as I ablute

And brush and parse myself bit by bit by bit

Until, suddenly,

His head is wet,

Baptized.

Above us, thunder, but not from God

Or heaven

Or the south plains, or a fast-moving front.

But from him, the man I chose. Rage.

Rise, fall, react, begin anew.

Rage. I chose him; he chose rage.

He embraces rage, caresses it, knows how it best likes to climax.

He reaches for it at night, puts money away for its retirement, makes plans to travel with it.

Wet kitten fur returns the moment, and

The revelation stills me, the dichotomy of it: The man I chose raging in anger a floor above;

A life unaware being pardoned for nothing in the dim light below.

My life cracks me open so hard, I put fingers to nose, check for blood.

My head to his, I share his blessing, let wet fur kiss my neck while I gather:

Jeans, sweaters, books – not too much to carry in one arm.

Nothing that will betray for a while.

The percussion of rage plays us out against a tiny meow.

Written by

Linda (Lucy) Wickersham