Powdered Sugar Face

Feedback I received revolved around syntax and word choices—adjusting words and phrases that could help move the piece in a way that felt more natural. I struggled with finding a way to end the piece in a cohesive yet impactful way, but I got some really helpful feedback that suggested I circle back to the main idea and mention this “powdered sugar face.” Changing the words to “well-lived” and “well-loved” made the piece flow in a way that ends in a great place. This feedback really made such a difference in my own perceptions of the piece, and I’m extremely grateful the collaborative efforts really got to give this poem a life of its own!

Her bones are tired now.
Joints ache with the life of a thousand runs,
puddles and mud and dew—
the untouched morning stuck to her paws.

She curls into a ball.
The window above shines warmth onto her fur,
chestnut face covered in grey
as if she’d stuck her nose
into a jar of powdered sugar.

And when her tags no longer jingle,
when her paws lay to rest,
her love will still linger.

Trapped in fur that covers the couch,
stuck in mud prints that run along the foyer,

there will always be a
gentle reminder she’s still around,
prancing with a well-lived,
well-loved
powdered sugar face.

Brigid O’Brien is a rising junior at DePaul University, studying English and Screenwriting. She loves her poems and stories to explore the “minutiae of life,” with previous work featured in JAKE Magazine and Applause Literary Journal. When she’s not writing, Brigid loves walking cute (slobbery) dogs and people-watching on the L.