SHANA HILL, FEATURED IN THE NEW OCEAN STATE REVIEW

Granite State

I stole a lucky
skiing wallet
from a boyfriend.
Empty. I used
it for years.
Made of nylon
and Velcro
the wallet
was renowned
on Cannon
Mountain, owned
by countless boys.

Written in marker
someone’s initials
still bleeding
from sweat.
And they had
passed it round
like a girl
they all claimed
to date. They must

have named
the wallet
talisman
of the mountain.
Every boy
rubbing her
initials
between fingers
seeking power,
seeking mountain
tricks, whirring
circles in the air.
That is what
the rich kids did
with their luck.
I never go
to New Hampshire,
not even
for cigarettes.

Granite State’s odyssey began in a library in Massachusetts where I had just finished reading Mark Irwin’s poem “The Human Pageant” (The Massachusetts Review). I stood there, tearing up at the line “I would make a C a vowel because it’s a torn O.” I couldn’t figure out why this was so very sad to me. I went home and started writing about the collapse of the Old Man of the Mountain (also known as “Stone Face” by the Abenaki) and how I could never seem to find any of his remains from the highway unless someone pointed him out. In this final version, the Old Man has left the poem but remnants of stories of New Hampshire, stories that really had nothing to do with me but somehow affected me, made their way in. For me, the poem addresses alienation and more specifically ways of losing and gaining power. Culturally, it addresses class and the attitudes that New Englanders have about each other. Growing up, skiing and wealth were not central to my life. My access to skiing came in highschool through the Division of Youth Services program in the greater Boston area, which gave teens access to skiing programs. I felt a sharp divide my first time on a ski mountain given the markings on my skis. The final line of the poem is a tribute to the relationship “Massholes” have with the state of New Hampshire. 

Shana Hill‘s poetry has recently appeared in San Pedro River Review and Slipstream Magazine. Her poem, “Tied,” published by the museum of americana, was a 2020 Best of The Net finalist. She is a member of the Poemworks Collective of Boston and is the founder of Poetica Pastor, a business which assists writers in the publication process. Shana is a co-editor of the forthcoming Essential Voices: A COVID-19 Anthology  (West Virginia University Press, Spring 2023).