Commute
Platforms of newspapered faces
and the jazz of a sax
on the edge of the crowd,
gold hot swallows of whiskey
in the thick cold morning,
a jolt rolling down a hill
I knew in childhood,
the end a memory I must have had:
belts of iris bruises round my waist,
his voice - I hope I haven't scarred you -
the delight in it. Light striking shadow on a chair,
heat through a straining fan,
my head beating a cool metal door,
languages of leaving crammed in plastic bags:
disconnection separation evacuation:
wet clothes peeled in a pool of lamplight,
his body a shore of driftwood words
scoured by ravaging gulls.
Emma Williams is a British poet and writer living in the US. Her work has appeared in several American journals, including Apostrophe, New Millenium Writings and Potomac Review.
Page(s) 24
magazine list
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