Chinese GarterLet us weave once morethe trap we used to setfor ourselves long ago:taut garter skein,stretched and bound againby unsure fingers.Let our legs rememberonce morethat familiar stance;a crouch to gather courage,and the dash,and then careless leap:Over yawning years,over bruised knees and heartsand the uncertainty of falling.Let us hopethat upon shaking-offthe happenstanceof a succesful landing,we find ourselvescaught in the blurry warmthof things -though frayed and yellowed,are still somehowsurprisinglywhole.
One-Way CafeI have given up those cafe haunts, conspiring with my cigarettes for the best way to present to you the plans and diagrams of Our Happliy Ever After Life. Harbored hopes diminished to troughs as each conniver was reduced to cylindrical ash. Those months spent playing out each scene: I, waiting in nonchalant subterfuge as you enter the door, our eyes averted, even as you compose yourself in the opposite seat. You, removing those big sunglasses, which for some reason makes your face all the more delicate. I, sipping coffee slowly, eyes adjusting from focusing on blank space for some time, before looking at yours. You, laying a big brown envelop