Читать книгу Happy, Okay? - M.J. Fievre - Страница 10

Paloma

I am leaving you,

& in the apartment we shared,

there is nothing left

on the walls

but nails

that held

our engagement

pictures. My bottles

of French perfume

have been packed

away,

leaving their dusty

shapes

on the vanity.

Where the radio used

to sit on the bookshelf,

there’s a gap,

like a missing tooth.

I think of old Caribbean men

who stand in the back

at weddings,

their faces creased.

They angle

coins in their pockets

to claim a grasp on calm.

Their eyes go

this way & that

—this way & that.

& the aunties

are fat with thick

whiskers on their chins.

They wear wide-brimmed

hats & dresses in bright

yellows, reds, & whites.

There will be

no wedding for us.

I am leaving you,

& in the apartment we shared,

there is nothing left

on the walls

but nails

that held

our engagement

pictures. Everything

I own has been hauled

back to my childhood

home.