Katie Manning
The Ghost in My Knees
I never met my great grandmother, but she lives in my knees, the way they freeze even
on the warmest days, just like hers used to do. She lives in my mouth too, in sayings
passed to me by Mom and Granny. Lift up your feet or you’ll lose your boyfriend, I say
every time we drive over train tracks, raising both legs slightly, even if I’m the one
driving, even if no one in the car has a boyfriend—because that’s not the point. My great
grandma said it’s good to cry because it gets the soured water off your brain, I say to
anyone who apologizes for crying, and sometimes—my hands on my knees—just to
myself.
Katie Manning is the founding editor of Whale Road Review and a professor of writing at Point Loma Nazarene University. Winner of the Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award for Tasty Other, she’s the author of eight poetry collections, most recently Hereverent (Agape Editions, 2023) and How to Play (Louisiana Literature Press, 2022). Her writing has been featured on Poetry Unbound, Tangle News, Verse Daily, and many other venues. Find her online at katiemanningpoet.com.