Friday Feature: Alisha S. Lockley
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Alisha S. Lockley is a poet, multimedia artist, stage director, and short film producer. Her work
closely examines the subtle sensualities of the surreal and the spiritual. She holds an MFA in
creative writing from Randolph College, and she was a finalist for the 2025 Furious Flower Prize judged by aracelis girmay.
Unremarkable
View of January from one window up
above the maternity ward. Below,
browning palms, a sherbet sunset;
wind chopped Florida water froths filth.
I’ve yet to see snow melt firsthand.
I have an imagination that comes
with new tremors here and there.
Visiting hours in the behavioral unit
are from 4 to 6. A fraction of my family
sits outside glass doors I’m not allowed
to touch. My beloveds wait to hold
my hands. Nurses watch to scold what
we forget while forgetting none of us
are prisoners. First, my mother sees
about me in her hot blue dress—
reeking of altar fabric and Pompeii oil;
My head swims against the third dose
of Prozac. One pill for my father, one
pill for someone’s else violent son–
My mother lists the names of saints
who ask about me. I’ve started worshipping
alone. I’m a heathen because
I believe in myself. My mother, more
olive-branch-bearing-dove than bear,
would rather send word than dirty
herself with me in certain truths.
Another patient is moved to shake
her hand for how articulate I’ve “turned
out.” I’m silent when left in solitude—
He’s another one who can’t be bothered to read
my mind, let alone the room. And before you ask,
yes, he was.
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Torch Literary Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit established to publish and promote creative writing by Black women. We publish contemporary writing by experienced and emerging writers alike. Programs include the Wildfire Reading Series, writing workshops, and retreats.
