"Voyage in the Blue" Engagement #8

November 14, 2022

TRYING TO TO AN ASHBERY THING
  
  so suddenly. We
Were all worried. Most everyone was, 
At least. At the least. 

You are fundamentally less. Abundantly,
Totally not a winner. And yet, 
On any given afternoon, the folds 
Overhead menacing, these things could find a way. No 

Rain. She is across from you. She uses
Words that mean different things to 
You. Try as you might, you cannot conjure 
Even the beginnings of her face. 

When you try to. Later. It is an important face. 
The shower comes now. Pelted, the face of the
Building she deemed lovely. It is a 
Relief, that it broke and broke this way. 

The trance. She didn’t make as much eye 
Contact today. They sat on the only dry 
Bench for miles. They saw no one, only the 
Dogs. The man worries he’s pulled the 

Card that’ll topple the whole thing, faster than you 
Can say… 
She never gets cold, she says, no irony on 
Her million and one faces. She is 

The one. It was––
The man comes to terms in that instant. 
He asked for the almond variety but the 
Drink is cold and forgotten so it never mattered 

That it wasn’t. She’s finished hers. She is
Finished. At four in the afternoon she will
Recount the events. Only once. To the void. 
Pick up the pieces. 

Steam. It will not be easy. 
The paint on the door is chipping. More 
And more each day. Nautical scene. 
Wrinkles don’t just go away. 

This is in a different year. 
A different her. 
Her face is older and so distinct 
It is all he cares to think about. 

From the wicker, his beasts roaming 
The sloped lawn. Winter comes and with it the 
Crystal. On the grass. It is moving the
First time you see them. But things 

Are… 
You cannot rely on the crystals. Or 
The heat. The wrinkles are here to 
Stay. Put it on anyway. Let us move 

Lined cheek to lined cheek. No one sees
Us when we do this. But then where 
Did your accent go? He pushed too 
Many chips in and now no one––

Count them, no one––can negotiate 
This surprising fog. A fog that becomes 
A kind of face. Imagine that. You’ve 
Been doing it a lot. 

Anyway. There are no stakes with
Cousins. I think this should 
End in triumph. It was but a glance. 
You can’t even think about it. 

Pheromones and fine wine. It is four in the 
Afternoon again. This in a third year.
Things have subsided. We can rely on the seasons
Again, their different, traceable accents. 

They will definitely see each other again. 

• ← "Voyage in the Blue" Engagement #7
• Autofictions? →