Hide and Seek

by Bobbie Lee Lovell

I always found the best places —
contorted inside a mildewy box,
or stiff as the King’s Guard
in a coat closet, inhaling perfume

and stale smoke. I’d shrink into
my own head and stay monk-silent
as It came nosing around, until,
lonely and bored, I’d give up because

hiding is not winning, and seekers
are not saviors. I learned to bide time
and to hide in plain sight, filled pages
of looseleaf, then trashed them.

I’m still adept at riding things out —
storm after storm — am easily busied
with work and words. The question is:
when to emerge? It might be too soon

or too late. Can statues imagine
movement? Can ice fathom steam?
There’s courage and shame in un-hiding:
reborn to this same tarnished life.

Bobbie Lee Lovell works as a graphic designer and helps coordinate the Poetry Unlocked reading series in Appleton.
More at bobbielovell.com/poetry.