Winner of the Toni Morrison Day Creative Writing Contest 2025
is it strange wearing someone else’s name?
no
this isn’t simply someone’s name
this stands for hope
hope for safety
hope for a future
hope for return
hidden under the protection of my shirt
they hover just above my sternum
pieces I can clutch
I recognize that simple silver single ball chain
wrapped around passing necks
wearing their own pieces of others
some grasping hold of the one that was left
some hoping the second does not fulfill its purpose