Shawn Aveningo is an award-winning, globally published poet whose work has appeared in over 80 literary journals and anthologies, including LA’s poeticdiversity who recently nominated her poetry for a Pushcart Prize. She is co-founder of The Poetry Box^®, managing editor of The Poeming Pigeon and journal designer for VoiceCatcher. Shawn is a proud mother of three who shares in the creative life with her husband in Beaverton, Oregon.

“She was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.”

—Kate Chopin, The Awakening

i wanna stand under
a rain cloud
let mascara run
from the tips of my lashes
to my toes
let my mask wash away
with gum wrappers
ticket stubs cigarette butts
down the gutter
of a dark alley
i wanna be baptized
by a summer storm
torrential downpour
like the ones i remember
thundering down
in missouri
i wanna stand there
naked
stripped of my security
blanket of labels
cut away
let your eyes
peel each layer
with laser precision
shedding skins
facades sprinkled
upon the pavement
nothing left to see
but me

Image credit: Leo Grübler “wiesenwind”

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