The Spell
In Peet’s Coffee, a young man sits by the window
on a wooden stool, grimacing under weather-darkened skin.
Fidgeting irritably when another man sits near to share the light,
he bolts to a far empty table, face tense, reddening. A woman
with a baby and blonde toddler carry hot chocolate and pastries
toward the three empty seats at his table, asks if they are free.
He says yes, face softening as the little girl chats amiably,
looks him in the eye, smiles. An immense beast lifts
from his body, withdrawing talons, allowing the skin
around his eyes to soften, smooth. The little girl’s voice
a spell, taming his demons till they purr like sated kittens.
My Father’s Depression
I remember crawling with my father
on our hands and knees deep into the seaside cave—
the still wet sand, the small flash light beam
mapping the rock roof as it descended to its dead end.
Alone with my father in the cramped dark—and I swore,
I’d never stay there, in sand depressed by heavy bodies,
waiting for the sea to wash our shapes away.
In Peet’s Coffee, a young man sits by the window
on a wooden stool, grimacing under weather-darkened skin.
Fidgeting irritably when another man sits near to share the light,
he bolts to a far empty table, face tense, reddening. A woman
with a baby and blonde toddler carry hot chocolate and pastries
toward the three empty seats at his table, asks if they are free.
He says yes, face softening as the little girl chats amiably,
looks him in the eye, smiles. An immense beast lifts
from his body, withdrawing talons, allowing the skin
around his eyes to soften, smooth. The little girl’s voice
a spell, taming his demons till they purr like sated kittens.
My Father’s Depression
I remember crawling with my father
on our hands and knees deep into the seaside cave—
the still wet sand, the small flash light beam
mapping the rock roof as it descended to its dead end.
Alone with my father in the cramped dark—and I swore,
I’d never stay there, in sand depressed by heavy bodies,
waiting for the sea to wash our shapes away.
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