Trappings

The mermaid isn’t yours any more than
the wine rack or wicker ottoman are:
they were all here when you moved in.
If anything, you inherited her, like a stray scarf

or a forgotten book fused into the trappings of a home.

---

Stillness/Stagnation

I tried to stop the clocks,

thinking, maybe if I stay quiet,

time will quiet down, too.

Maybe if I don’t move,

time will stand still with me.

Stillness seems so appealing

until you realize you’re only

a breath away from stagnation.

Her

Who? The girl from

this winter? She comes

blowing in and out,

as she’s wont to do.

I’ve seen her when

there’s a chill in the air,

or when it gets dark

before she expects it to.

I see her. Don’t you?



This week the gargleblaster asks, "Do you see her much?"

What Do You Mean By "This"

He did it when he

said “We can’t

do this anymore.”

I realized sometimes

a cigar is really just a cigar,

and though he was

the one to apologize,

I was the one left

feeling ashamed

for the things we

never did.

This week’s gargleblaster question: Who Dunnit?

Deflection

You asked why

I pointed out constellations

like they were my grandchildren,

you, the stranger sitting next to me

at their dance recital.

I filled our silences with their stories.

Distracted you from realizing:

you were the stranger sitting next to me.

It's a new challenge from the folks at yeah write!

Each week we have 42 words to answer a question--in April, my responses will come in poem form.

This week's question: What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing?