Poetry – Page 17 – Bellevue Literary Review

For now it’s guesswork: a territory/
full of unmapped regions,

My husband has been into town./
I can smell the out of doors/
in his hair, on his cheek

As late sun fades/
through the haze/
of their sound

If I forget you/ will you disappear?
The arc of Rilke’s question seemed to spawn/
out of a dustbin/ remnant of a
sheer belief that minds are gods.

the asymmetrically lurching gait/
the austere paradox as of one hand clapping/
a unilateral dialogue.

Lock that tongue to the roof/
of your mouth, the therapist says,/
eyeing the trach

Do you have an appetite? No. / Are you anxious? Yes. / Irritable? Yes.