Loan

Devin Esch

Modeled on Anodyne by Yusef Komunyakaa

I love how the eyes

belong to my father—

they used to scowl

when strangers said,

“you look so much alike.”

Now they see his handsome

staring back in the mirror.

Spoken through bleeding

gums, this voice learns

its own sound each day.

Curls cover the scalp,

but buzzers fit the shape

of the head. Lips hum.

I love how the hips

hold laundry baskets

and strut up stairs.

This sandpaper skin

dressed in borrowed

clothes. Mom’s

tomboy wardrobe.

There is a crook

in this nose where

a softball smacked

hers at age 10.