Hotel
I’m thinking of those who blister
beneath bland words,
boil at banal exposure
Katherine’s Coffeehouse
Tinnitus
It’s absurd, this deafening ring, as if I’d put my ear by an air raid call, let the sound in,
Landline
That 1980’s phone, boxy against your ear – don’t you think we could hear better then? Didn’t we listen more
Tribute
Sometimes, when spring yawns, its slow, honeysuckle breath warming my face, I think to myself, “What a wonderful world.”
For My Husband
All love is an afterthought, an ideal that whispers “remember me,” carrying us, wildflowers in a basket, petals falling, lighting
Training
To cure my dog of her errant ways, I bought a vibrating collar, clipped it around the fat of her
Spectacle
This is how I remember you, white apron speckled with red sauce, spectacles on the end of your nose, eyes
Tick
I look down, and it’s on my thigh, just sitting there, sucking the last bit of self from me, and
Lesson in Service
I learned young to serve: ring the bell at Christmas, thank strangers for their change, handle hot tongs, release chicken
Favorite
Of all pandemics I’ve survived, you are my favorite, teaching me what it means to be alive. Okay, I admit
Language
The irony of language: it’s a gorgeous word. Say it out loud: language. Say it for the sake of linguistics.
Off
Turn off the morning news. Go to the old stereo. Turn on the blues. Because if anyone knows the trouble
Virus
Every day is fear now, blocking out potential, masking the possible, making it hard to breathe. That’s how sickness works.
Sorry, Emily
Because I could not stop for death, he kindly passed me by – he, dark winged and disappointed. Me, content
Following
That time in the Mexican mountains, I said I was being followed. It wasn’t so much that you listened (though
Every Atom
That day you hummed the song of myself – I assume you assumed I’d fallen for it. I did. Have
