Anne Leigh Parrish

after that

she stands tall to water the hanging plant
can too small, soil so dry
back to the outside faucet she goes
for a refill
her son still dead
the one driving still not

for years dreams were lies
he’s at practice
he’ll be home before dark 

then they were a single word
no no no no no no no
waking hours buried below
chores & duties

after that, just exhaustion
grief the daily landscape,
death the narrow path toward night

stoning the lake  

let’s skip stones while waves ripple the shore

flat ones are best
tap-tap-tap
over the water they go, until gravity drowns them 

stone can’t drown, only breathers choke

this lake won’t last, you say, it’s lower every day

it’s just as blue & the sunlight dances just as fast

we’re the ones dying & in our grief stone the lake

Anne Leigh Parrish’s next novel, an open door, will be published in October 2022 by Unsolicited Press. Recent titles from Unsolicited Press are the moon won’t be dared, a poetry collection, October 2021, and a winter night, a novel, released in March 2021. She lives in Olympia, Washington.