You Think You’ll Never Find Someone

I was your age when
my mother said I’d never 
find someone, never 

get married, no man 
desires an unwed mother. 
She tells me as if 

she's telling herself 
to reinforce her own choice, 
the decision she 

made at just nineteen. 
I didn’t believe her slurs, 
dismissed her worry

as she handed me 
a wad of wet clothes taken
out of the washer 

for me to toss in 
the dryer. Before she could 
say more, I clicked shut 

the door and twisted 
the timer, made my way past 
her as the heaviness 

of denim jeans thumped 
hard against the turning drum.

Trish Hopkinson is a western Colorado poet and literary arts advocate who directs Rock Canyon Poets. Her work appears in Poets.org’s Poem A Day, Sugar House Review, and The Penn Review. When she’s not writing, she’s discovering new music, enjoying local wine, or planning her next adventure.