Masked Fall
written by: Holly Woodward
@HollyWoodward
Stock prices are falling
to simulate dead leaves.
Telemarketers are calling
in place of flying geese.
At Prada’s fashion show,
tattered black skirts flutter
in fake wind fans that blow.
Leaves of news clog the gutter.
Most New Yorkers wear masks
of paint the whole year long,
and nobody sane asks
if there is something wrong.
One cold, dark day a year,
some souls take their masks off,
raising long-hidden fear.
The rest scream and run off.
Holly Woodward is a writer and artist. She served as writer in residence at St. Albans, Washington National Cathedral, and was a fellow for four years at CUNY Graduate Center’s Writers’ Institute. Woodward enjoyed a year as a doctoral fellow at Moscow University. She also studied at Leningrad University and has an MFA from Columbia. Her poetry and fiction have won prizes from Story Magazine, the 92nd Street Y, and New Letters, among other honors.
Latest posts by Holly Woodward (see all)
- Masked Fall - October 22, 2022
