A woman is sleeping
in a trailer she is
turning over
like an open hand
an overwhelming heat
is pressing down upon her
she is opening her mouth
like a cat or a baby
she is saying goodbye
to her husband
or maybe her father
he is walking away
from her a window
is sliding open
it is dark
her mother is
kneeling next to her
they are both
crying the priest
is confused he is saying
goodbye over and over
she is coming apart
like a flower she is
continued,
STILL LIFE, TERRA CEIA, cont.
remembering her mother's sink
the brussel sprouts
there is a bowl the rim
is pink she is fingering
the delicate ridges and then
she is floating through
a lobby or maybe
a movie set
there are men
standing over her saying
goodbye to her
over and over
she is naked her thighs
are white they are opening
like an eyelid the sheets
are running out from underneath her
she is pulling everything down
inside her she is
slowly absorbing
her difficult life.