By the time you knew love, The Rent-A-CD shop had become a branch of state government, demolished, like the rest of your city, in a summer that stretched into nearly a decade of detours. It's ten ... [+]
Originally published in The Germ, 2014
He lost his second wife in Buffalo.She hid behind his books and slipped awayon their due date. Libraries are safe—dustholds warmth. It smells like powdered hands. She curledunder some shelves and stayed. He had to go—anywhere. Two yellow lines knew his name.He loved spilled gas, new tar. Some arctic gustChased him through a door. He followed a world.She lives on paper now. Her dreams are sadbut pretty. His eyes only squint at signs.He never wonders. She thinks that's too badbut flips her page. For now, distance exciteshim like flame. She knows that her pictures will fadequick as brittle paper,