The Long Afternoon
Behind the glass door
stands a babushka,
a grandmother doll.
It unscrews. There's another
inside, a size smaller,
that unscrews, and so on.
A pipe called a hookah
with a malachite bowl...
The gramophone wheezes,
scratches, and speaks:
"Avalon. Fox Trot."
White flannels and knees
intently two-stepping
step onto the floor.
At four there's a breeze.
The bamboo trunks creak
and talk in the lane.
A house lizard hops
from the vine to the rail...
cock his head at me.
"Remember?" he croaks.
Dear brother, I do!
Found In Volume 26, No. 05
Read Issue
