Poetry by Janis La Couvée

       Darren Ellis CC




Strategies for avoiding familial confrontation


On days when words become weapons
before fists fly or books are flung across the room

I slam the door behind me
satisfied as the window rattles

There’s an art to the perfect door slam –
I am master
never break glass or splinter wood
leave hasp and lock intact

My father’s cruel taunts evaporate
wisps in the wind
I outrun them,
outpacing their ability to stick

His anger often builds to a peak
like superheated liquid in the microwave
you reach to take out the cup 
and it erupts in a mess
cascading to the floor, burning skin

I don’t want to be the burnt skin
2minutes 50 seconds, no more
best leave quickly

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Janis La Couvée (she/her) is a writer, poet and conservationist with a love of wild green spaces, from Campbell River, Canada—territory of the Liǧʷiɫdax̌ʷ people. Words now or soon in Thema, Bulb Culture, Isele Magazine, Harpy Hybrid Review, Rochford Street Review, Litmora Literary Magazine, Dirigible Balloon, Pure Slush, Counterflow, Splendor of Wings (League of Canadian Poets), among others. Online: janislacouvee.com @lacouvee on Mastodon and Bluesky, @janislacouveeonline on Instagram and Facebook