Pack a Bag by Linnet Phoenix

I'm packing a bag, 
just the essentials 
for life support.
Wandering with urgency, 
lifting items, questioning 
how many pairs count?
Is it strange 
taking a pillow to hug?
It's thirty-seven days
since my sister broke protocol. 
She hugged with blood-tied love
fierce and primitive.
Last thing, I cannot leave 
without my reading.
Slender poetry collections 
slip easily in my bag.
I pause fingers, feeling spines.
One more I cannot leave. 
I hold it up to the light,
comforting in subtle solidarity.
I hug it, just because,
then lock the door gently 
behind us.

Linnet Phoenix is a poet who currently resides in North Somerset, England. She has been writing poetry for years. Her work has previously been published in Heroin Love Songs, Punk Noir Magazine, ImpSpired Magazine and others. With poems in the upcoming Spring 2021 edition of Poetica Review. She also enjoys horse-riding in rainstorms