Romance wasn’t so bitter

In the summer of sap

It was the month of lantern flys

And dense unmovable air

Some days, it seemed, my body

glowed like a copper coin

Darker and darker still

–

It was July

when June felt like a dream

a huge industrial vacuum

and my youth called to me

from a container of beach rocks

–

An elderly couple

Waiting for the wind to change

she in linen, he in cotton; both in white

her room smells of pine

the dreadful plaster craving

the storm moving in

lips hovering by the human ear

like moths to the attic light

–

Then it was august

my adulthood called to me

From the wilted aster

I never carry cash anymore

I began to think

Sweeping the absent petals into a white bin

–

taking notes became a habit

gold jewelry

blue car

American elm

It’s dreadful

Disconnecting the I from the she

I’ve never felt so removed

–

Last month I walked past

my initials carved in the concrete

As my neighbor's friends sent her condolences

Jesus be with you

He will be missed

Mortality called to me

She was just behind the words

willing them to stick to my temple

and stay put.