Still Life
after Erica L. Sanchez
travel light leave a coat in the
hallway an augury calls for snow
how bleak I find the weather every flake
the same I bury them in the attic
this house is my body is my temple
I store sin in the cupboards
learn to desecrate this holy place
the hall is empty save for the jacket
i stare at what silence tracks in
hear me bite down hear me break
the delicate bones of my tongue always
forget to make ice and refuse to use the snow
I drink more and more and more warm water
enough to cover the rasping wails
plaster my throat paint the windows shut
the door a gaping hole neighbors
peer through in this temple I remain
kowtowed ask me how long
one can kneel watch me discover
the answer all I for pray for anymore is
to be remembered watch the floor pattern
my knees watch them become tile arrange
a pretty picture this is how i grow ancient