A Soft Fog

Don’t freak out– it’s just fog–
soft as breath on your neck–

it is us, trying to salvage
this mess. A flower wilting

in morning, a scream, no rain,
a meadow in Maine where

we buried our secrets.
We don’t know shit about right

or wrong. About how deep
the wound goes. Only that the fog

is us: our spit, our blood, our love.
We fog up the windows, the mirrors,

the sky. We’re making Maine our own.

(originally published in Pandemonium Journal, Summer 2024)

Fall, 2019

I’ve survived this far to get to fall,
and now auburn trees are nowhere.
Driving long distance– abundance
of green. Or branches, waiting for
that next temporary warmth. Used
to be we’d take a short vacation
to the northeast in October. Now
it’s a dice roll. Can’t take time off
at all for Maine. Can’t lose a single
dollar, lest dead leaves will cover
the lawn, the mouth, the moon.

 

(originally published in Fishbowl Press, Winter 2020)