Prayer
The semi-automatic lid of the kitchen garbage can
closes with a sound like a train slowing
as it chugs off into the distance.
I’m here for most of five days, enjoying house life
and gradually making use of all the rooms:
my toiletry bag in the bathroom, one of the books
I’m reading in the bedroom, my keys and pocket knife
on the kitchen table, my phone charger in the living room,
and so on, enjoying this rare opportunity to expand
my presence into a space larger than 32 square feet.
Last night a dream hollowed me out inside,
or perhaps there was nothing to remove.
I awoke with my hands covering my face,
repeating the word “no” into the darkness like a prayer.
I made a rule but I couldn’t keep it.
/ / /
23 July 2022
Latham NY
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