I cannot put my mother in the freezer and neither can 
I store her in the attic nor in the bank box nor in the 
canister of sugar In fact she is calling me now she is 
ringing in my kitchen in both bedrooms in the upstairs 
office I am wearing her like a too-big coat The coat is 
made of wire I shoo her away I flap my hands: go away 
go away I am a match and every time we speak—and 
sometimes when we do not—she strikes me Even in 
the bend of a spoon I can see her reaching

— From Ashley’s most recent collection, Because I Am the Shore I Want to Be the Sea (Subito Press, 2014); republished here by author’s permission

Bio: Renée Ashley