105 Degrees of Freedom, by Pamela Joyce Shapiro

Luminous Zag: Night, by Louise Nevelson (USA, b. Ukraine) 1971

105 Degrees of Freedom

The red head docent
asks, why black? I think
she is not being
specific enough.
The matte black surface
recedes in shadows.
It's unifying
I say--twice--but she
cannot see or hear me.

A woman in front
hears and repeats my
answer. And she's pleased
that the docent agrees,
now repeating, Yes,
it's unifying.
And I smile, suddenly
freed from my needing
to be seen and heard.  

Pamela Joyce Shapiro

Pamela Joyce Shapiro is a cognitive psychologist intrigued by memory and language.  She writes poetry to capture thoughts and moments otherwise forgotten.  Her work has appeared in Poetry Breakfast, Better Than Starbucks, The Ekphrastic Review, Unlost, and One Sentence Poems.