- 1. Jump Rope
There is menace
in its relentless course, round and round,
describing an ellipsoid,
an airy prison in which a young girl
...
- 2. Amaryllis
A flower needs to be this size
to conceal the winter window,
and this color, the red
of a Fiat with the top down,
...
- 3. Lipstick
She leaned over the sink
her weight on her toes
...
- 4. After Us
I don't know if we're in the beginning
or in the final stage.
-- Tomas Tranströmer
...
- 5. Coloring Book
Each picture is heartbreakingly banal,
a kitten and a ball of yarn,
a dog and bone.
The paper is cheap, easily torn.
...
- 6. Monopoly
We used to play, long before we bought real houses.
A roll of the dice could send a girl to jail.
The money was pink, blue, gold as well as green,
and we could own a whole railroad
...
- 7. Butter.
Butter
Butter, like love,
seems common enough
...
- 8. Daisies
In the democracy of daisies
every blossom has one vote.
The question on the ballot is
Does he love me?
...
- 9. Radiator
Mittens are drying on the radiator,
boots nearby, one on its side.
Like some monstrous segmented insect
the radiator elongates under the window.
...
