by Kelly Vance

for Heather


Sandalwood smoke through lavender
stems and dim sunlight filtered

through elm leaves, half-lidded
blinds, and the dust motes

your house made from our leftover
flesh and fur. We were the dander-

lions, shedding ourselves
little fluff balls, mighty manes

falling stranded on the tiles.
I never minded a little dust

knowing it was just a little
us, remainders, reminders

of living so much we scattered
ourselves like blue through leaves.

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Kelly Vance is a graduate student in Eastern Kentucky University's MFA program in creative writing where she received the Emerging Writers Award for poetry in 2021. In 2019, she completed the Conscious Feminine Leadership Academy affiliated with Women Writing for (a) Change, Cincinnati, and incorporates many conscious leadership concepts into her writing, mentorship, and professional work as a psychiatrist.