Chitra Ganesh, To Assemble a Flying Car (detail), 2018, linocut on tan BFK Rives. Courtesy of the artist & Durham Press.
There’s a Step-Ladder Near Your Bible / They Say You’re Far-Sighted When Alone
you only pour half
the remaining wine,
saving the rest
in case you get company
this is repeated later,
and you know you
will never be without wine
I can live with your thimbles
of wine in the medicine cabinet
it’s your hair that disturbs me
no matter what you say I know
your hair hates me
when we hug
your locks
inch around
my neck
and shake hands in a death grip
and I fear you conspire against our love:
when I go to kiss you,
you call my name so loudly
that all the neighbors can hear
and just as we get into bed
the phone rings
I have so much in common
with those fish you keep in the bathtub
getting the bare minimum
you say you would leave me
if it were not for the children
yet you refuse to introduce us
Mercy Bona resides in Brooklyn. (updated 1975)