Shutta Crum
​Image by Tiffany Freeman on Pexels                                                                                       
Shutta Crum's poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Typehouse, Stoneboat, Orchards, Nostos, Southern Poetry Review, Plainsongs, Mom Egg, Blue Unicorn, Acumen, Calyx and Boulevard. Her chapbook WHEN YOU GET HERE (Kelsay Books, 2020) won a gold Royal Palm Literary Award. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and is, also, the author of thirteen picture books and three novels. Several of these have been reviewed favorably by the NY Times or have made state reading lists. A second chapbook THE WAY TO THE RIVER came out in 2022. For more info: www.shutta.com. 
Sternum


​breastbone::stout sentry


heart     burdened
my ribs have borne years
even that borrowed bone
bruised              but vigilant
rises with breath
                           the breastbone 
stalwart, pulls heartward 
keeps this body aright


born unfused
the sternum      soft pieces
it takes time to learn to love
to become 
hardened::defender::warder
              of inhabitants of the heart
and of those who rent space
for a while


             sometimes 
                          I walk out heavy
under the stars and wonder
how it might feel to bash this bone
against infinite light
             to rise               empty


challenged
             I place my hand::pale scout
between my breasts      feel the armor






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