"Offscreen"
by Michael Drummy

 

Offscreen

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It’s been over twenty-five years now. Montreal: sheathed in ice: cars sliding sideways down the
hill past the convent where the nuns had taken you in. Notre pauvre soeur. You may as well have
been on the moon. Days later, word arrives from the hospital that he’s gone: Nothing could have
been done. From the window in your room: the ice, the ice. Neil Young on the radio. Embraced
by strangers in the hallway. Ever since, you’ve been leaching grief like rusted pipes in the spring.

 

On your side you lie in dreamless sleep: slow, shallow breaths in the slender light of dawn. In a
few moments you will wake to Swiffer the floor downstairs. For now, I leave you be. I’ll make the
bed this morning.

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M F Drummy holds a PhD in historical theology from Fordham University. He is the author of numerous haiku, articles, essays, reviews, poems, and a monograph on religion and ecology (Being and Earth). His work has appeared, or will appear, in Allium, Amethyst Review, Feral, Frogpond, Main Street Rag, The Viridian Door, and many others. He and his wife of nearly 20 years enjoy splitting their time between the Colorado Rockies and the rest of the planet. He can be found at: X @mdrummy56 Instagram @miguelito.drummalino Website https://bespoke-poet.com