*
Julia Kanno writes: “I am the mother of two amazing young men. I am from Appalachia and Botswana. I am an artist and also work in healthcare. I have self-published with my co-pilot levin pfeuffer two books of prose a storm is cuming and The hardest helmet. My first reading was done at Northeastern University and since then I have read at the Somerville Armory two times. I consider myself an introverted artist/writer. I give birth to my works including those that have been displayed at the Decordova Museum as well as Howard University and local gems such as The Middle East and Out of the Blue gallery. I will be published in Tell magazine featuring my textiles and art in the spring. Currently, I am studying behavioral science and psychology because there is a need for more people of color to be there for people of color to help end the stigma of seeking mental health.”

Window watcher

Julia Kanno

She wakes
And makes coffee beans
Then proceeds
To have black coffee
With her best friend.
The window
She is my weather woman
This is her job
Activism
And the security guard
Of the sky.
“This part is blue; do you see it?”
Ten times
She has made me see
The feathers of the tree and the knots in the bark
The comings and goings of people with doodle dogs
The dog walker with headphones
The businessman getting off work
Collecting his thought

While throwing twigs in
The garbage.
The old lady in the window
That is you
With wild hair
In a perfect robe
Watching life as it
Is
She always says “we are lucky”
I suppose we are.
I see the beautiful woman beyond the wrinkles and dry skin and
Edema.
She is there.
We laugh so hard we fart.
We watch the sky
From the window

And I am holding her hand in my soul.

She is fierce
But she embraced me today
And I smelled her genius
And then she said
I’m lovely.

— Julia Kanno

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To have your work considered for the Lyrical send it to:
Doug Holder, 25 School St.; Somerville, MA 02143
dougholder@post.harvard.edu