I should never have inquired after
I knew
he was not home
and sincere in saying
he could not make me happy
somewhere in the drop-off
the expanding other space
non-destiny
of dream the
blacktops and adumbrated alleys
city intimidations
third story hoverings
of the securely disheartened
traveling time in the dark.
I slept and his favorite season was autumn
his room wall-to-wall with leaves
I waded in them
went looking in
continuous Corinthianed galleries
where young men meandered monastically
their answers never-never:
“He’s not here now.”
Awakening in the clearing of catharsis.
The dream was of autumn when
it was my midsummer
calm and calamitous
and he didn’t tell me
what was in his dream
about me
that irrelevant spring.
Only that he wondered what it would take
to upset me.
[+]
Katherine's poetry and short stories have appeared
in more than 50 journals, most recently
Wilderness House Literary Review, Blood Lotus,
The Adirondack Review, Existere, and The Straddler.
In 2012, my short story collection, Curiosity Killed the S
phinx and Other Stories, was released
by Hollywood Books International.
