You draw the map on her dress
Rent from DeepDyve- You draw the map on her dress
You draw the map on her dressshade in each afternoonwith a gentle stroking—here
the storm will be, the chalkis already falling backbreaking apart over the fixed point
where the earth was loweredthe way all graves are calmedand though the dress is black
you hold it up as a gestureguiding her with a nightthat now weighs nothing
will circle over and over as the sleeveno longer whitened by moonlighttaking so long to finish, becomes the path
helping you stay on your feetonce there’s no chalk leftno sparks and the heaviness. [End Page 166]
Simon Perchik is an attorney whose poems have appeared in Partisan Review, the Nation, Osiris, Poetry, the New Yorker, and elsewhere. His most recent collection is Almost Rain, published by River Otter Press (2013). For more information, free e-books, and his essay titled “Magic, Illusion and Other Realities,” visit his website at www.simonperchik.com.
