Emily Hyland
Strawberry
Doon walked with me
to the tattoo place
on Flushing
three days after
Brad left,
& the artist
inked my forearm
with strawberries
from the parable
Pema Chödrön tells
about a woman
running from tigers
& a gnawing mouse
in the worst spot
& a cluster of strawberries
that centers her present.
I cried the whole time,
roaming, sweating—
Brooklyn to Manhattan
up to the park & back
everyday, sobbing—
armpits, tear ducts,
sopping tank tops.
Doon said I stank,
that the tattoo artist
kept looking up at her
asking with his eyes,
Is she okay?
I hadn’t showered,
hadn’t done much
besides walk
& cry & dial
Brad’s number—
sent to voicemail,
again—& then he
concedes, finally, we
meet a few days later—
he & I, at the Green
Grape coffee spot—
I’d chopped
all the memory
from my hair
to my earlobes
& his fingers
find my forearm
across the table—
he doesn’t
seem to believe
how much,
in just days,
I’ve changed,
& as I sip
some iced drink
in the swirl
of it all broken,
all continuing
to break, breaking
even more, I register
his touch & his look
back up—
as if he already
doesn’t know me.
Emily Hyland reads “Strawberry”
Emily Hyland’s newest collection of poetry, My Wise Little Ghost, is forthcoming with Trio House Press in July 2026. Hyland is the author of Divorced Business Partners: A Love Story (Howling Bird Press, 2024) & Emily: The Cookbook, (Ballantine Books, 2018). Her third collection, Post-Mastectomy Poems, will be published by Cornerstone Press in 2027. Hyland is the eponymous co-founder of the international restaurant groups Pizza Loves Emily + Emmy Squared Pizza. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she writes & teaches at Yogasource, a beloved local studio that she co-owns & directs. emilyhyland.com / emmysquaredpizza.com / pizzalovesemily.com