Stuck in a Hug
"Snug as a bug in a hug,"
says Gran, like she always does,
and laughs down my neck
with her smoky-mint breath.
But I'm not just snug—
I'm squashed and I'm squeezed
and I can't quite breathe,
stuck inside this hug.
She holds me tight for half a year,
and I hang there, pinned,
and wait for War—how Gran
sticks out her chin and squints,
plays her cards like a hurricane
and never lets me win.
Her hug ends and then I'm free!
I hug back, and start the game.
Copyright Credit: Heidi Mordhorst, "Stuck in a Hug" from Squeeze. Copyright © 2005 by Heidi Mordhorst. Reprinted by permission of Wordsong Press, a division of Astra Publishing House.
Source: Squeeze (Wordsong Press, 2005)