My grandma often hinged at her hips
trying to relieve a hunched spine
and generations of rue.
She would unfold all the way back
to her native tongue
slip in a foreign word to ensure
I felt the weight of her conscience.
Fylleangst. The Norwegian term
for the fear and anxiety one feels
when trying to recall their actions
the day after being blackout drunk.
But she wasn’t referring to one hangover
she encompassed a lifetime.
During the Second World War
she was a teen caught in a tryst
with a German soldier
who had invaded her homeland…
even after all these years
she could never confess all the way.
I only know how the story ends
with sparse details on how it began.
Antique skeletons are still skeletons
that take up space in a closet
or a body, she would often say.
I’m not the type to expose shortcomings
but I will mention, by that point
her frame was tiny, all bone
existing just beneath paper thin skin.
Tyler Gnass spends his days in a very technical world developing medical devices in Vancouver, British Columbia. Looking for balance, his free time is dedicated to art: writing poetry, completing his first novel and creating music.
Greg Turlock is a published poet, author and photographer. His credits include “Rivers of Life”, award-winning poem from the 2019 Alberta Arts Awards, “Hightops in the Snow”, his new young-adult novel, “Prairie Survivors” photo essay in High Shelf Press and “Beauty from the Underworld” photo in Tiny Seed Journal. Greg lives in Parkland County, Alberta CANADA www.gregturlockcreative.com
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