~ Delta Poetry Review ~

Andrea Potos

Another Mid-Range Hotel

The walls breathe beige,

wall-to-wall carpet mottles grey,

faux-paneling hides

a mini-fridge somewhere.

Oh give me an ochre-red wall

with stencilings of hibiscus.

Give me a paisley rug,

a curved seashell lampshade

giving off amber-rose glow

that enables me to wonder

whether I have stepped into

a 20th century salon

or a fortune teller’s nest

who will promise me a long

and vibrant life, beyond

purgatories of location

so terrified of offending,

so very far from anywhere.

Andrea Potos is the author of several books of poetry, most recently Her Joy Becomes (Fernwood Press) and Marrow of Summer (Kelsay Books). A new collection entitled “Belonging Songs” is forthcoming from Fernwood in 2025. Her poems recently appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry East, Midwest Quarterly, Paterson Literary Review, Poem, ONE ART, and others.