Door

By Ann Lauterbach
Urgency of almost      bending an arm
             around the belated     arched   made fallow
                          running into the core integument     as if
            desire were potency risking an outcome
paint not quite dry
sun too hot
                                       still at the entrance
to step over the lacy shade’s interference
so one is never speaking directly to you     you
who stepped across         whose touch once
                                         comforted the missing image.

Notes:

This piece is part of the portfolio “How It Continues to Astonish: The Poetry of Ann Lauterbach.” You can read the rest of the portfolio in the March 2023 issue. All poems are from Door by Ann Lauterbach, published by Penguin, and printed here with the permission of the author.

Source: Poetry (March 2023)