In this City I Have No Name or Things for Which I Must Repent

found pennies;
6 feet of man standing
before my seated body;
sandpapered and sepia painted
vintage-ification of New;
coffee, craft beer, & pastries in every crevice;
fist-sized lemons;
the cost of them;
illegal left turns and granite icons
robed in ill-fitting capes of history
barely covering the most tender bits;
Spanish failing my tongue;
words like Still and Soon;
Tomorrow and
you never finding It.
Too: daydreams deciphered
to crumbs followed to sleep;
craved for sound and color;
lifted in so many reps their casing
suctions to reveal every line
of the map to the way home.










darlene anita scott’s poetry has appeared in journals including The Baltimore Review, Tidal Basin Review, Quiddity, and J Journal. scott’s manuscript of poems Marrow reimagines the Peoples Temple, a community of American men, women, and children who emigrated to Jonestown, Guyana and were coerced into suicide by their spiritual leader. It was a semi-finalist in the Crab Orchard Review First Book contest. Her manuscript in progress Breathing Lessons 101 is a multi-media exploration of the good girl stereotype as it is applied to females of color. scott lives and teaches in Virginia.