LEG-SPEAK FROM THE GRAVE IN BUCKSPORT
What they don’t understand,
those tourists and gossips of lore—
if I were to persist—
I’d do it better than that
and despite what they say
I wouldn’t bother
my time with you,
Jonathan Buck, hero.
Also, if I haunted you,
wouldn’t I haunt the souls
that stood and watched too?
It doesn’t seem worth the effort.
But if it were me,
if I had made some sorry
etch of my leg appear
on your unfaltering grave,
would your bones wheeze
and winnow? Would some
ancient flesh collect
tears from your eyes?
Or would your hollowed-out
lungs leach air in century-long
gasps as I laugh from the day
of my final sentence?
AFTER THE MISCARRIAGE
An invisible rope
casts a net
over the sparrow,
who, recently maimed,
learns to fly again.
The net—memory—
lands, tangles, then
frees the bird,
who, in and out
of the struggle,
attempts habitual
motions, never
knowing what
kind of moment
will follow—
daggered
fragments,
joy or sorrow.
WAKING
Stay there a moment,
eyes closed, warm
under soft layers.
Maybe turn to the left,
curl up like a C, hot breath
through cold, dry sniffles.
The humidifier can
only do so much. As
you lie there softly,
breaths deepen. You
roll to the right, hunger
rumbles. You dream
of oatmeal with honey,
blueberries, coconut milk
too. Maybe a coffee and
some orange juice. But
you’re warm and soft.
You stay there longer.
Your face finds shelter
amidst a nest of pillows:
cheek meets sheets in a cuddle.
Nowhere needed but this
warm puddle of blankets,
you stay—you need it too.
Eventually, you walk
to the window, roll
open the snow and sky.
They’re waiting there too:
stretched out, lying still—
waking in their time too.
CTD Robinson writes poetry, fiction, nonfiction and picture books. She obtained her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University in June, 2018, and anticipates earning her MA at the Bread Loaf School of English (Middlebury College) in August, 2023. Recent and forthcoming publications include poetry at Spillwords Press, Soul-Lit, Braided Way and Blue Lake Review, as well as nonfiction at Solstice Literary Magazine and Kripalu.org. https://twitter.com/CTDRobinson
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