My Own Private Cannery Row

© Tracy Prescott MacGregor

Rarely do I write poetry. Even more rarely do I allow it exposure. Not entirely sure why. I revere great poetry, but I find it to be a rare species: elusive and golden, hiding in shadows or, occasionally, in plain sight.

So here's a poem, no more fanfare than that.

My Own Private Cannery Row

Here I endure my own private cannery row.

It crackles and breeds in

the dark parts of

my unruly heart—corrugated sheets layered over

smoky post-afternoons,

heavy enough with loss

and the...