for an era you waited for her to call
it was before the calls stopped
“look at these,” she says arranging the stems of peonies
the horse chestnuts are gone and the
viburnum look like snow
the anniversary of her death
occasioned a gaudy dream in which
I suddenly realized how little I knew
about the task at hand
amidst horrendous internecine
festivities in the golf club
on the campus of one of those
gated communities off Military
after her death, I looked for a connection
at Dunkin’ Donuts
back in the afterlife
there are some things to pick up
at King Kullen
then you will leave or arrive
smirking as you pass Fridays at Five
the name authors
like those bags of hot rotisserie chickens
“The nice part” you keep starting
“Yes!” this friend thing is painful
they are either dying or
refusing to talk to you
You keep asking “why?”
we pass the vegetable stand at the corner
how parents communicate with their grown children
gardeners
dentists
plants
implants
you exhume old hurts from the attic
will you discard these like torn pantyhose
or even throw them away?
he has a practice
she fund-raises for Lincoln Center
what they have in common
is feeling put upon by you
Francis Levy is a Wainscott resident. The Italian translation of his novel “Erotomania” will be released in October. His novel “The Wormhole Society” will be released then too, along with a graphic novel version illustrated by Joseph Silver. His long poem “Francis Levy’s Divine Comedy” was published in Exquisite Corpse.