Today I am a dangling thread in the unnecessary count
of all Allegheny’s clothes. Snug fit in a snake’s mouth,

today of all days I choose to live obliquely, first day
of fall, et cetera. My brain’s all leaves, caves all ears,

moths seeking better light I have not provided. You
ask how my day is going and I get defensive. Never

wielded boxing gloves. Never a ring. I am surviving,
I say, the minimum. My form conjures shadows.

Drop me a rope. I must climb out from this well.

(originally published in Academy of the Heart and Mind, Winter 2021)