backdrop
Even when I'm caught up
having to watch the hospital
elevator door close, the cab
crammed with haggard patients,
even in that dream,
as in all the others,
the parents' kitchen dreams,
the unruly classroom dreams . . . ,
the same backdrop
beckons—that steep,
windy road up to Highlands
with the stand selling apples
and cider in season
but always open
with bags of boiled peanuts
on its counter, the contraband
always in the dark shed
under the loblollies uphill,
the shed's door padlocked,
the contents—pills? guns?
a stash of forged IDs?
the psalter Mary read?
a password in an envelope
taped to a laptop,
every file opening
to the unforgettable poem?
all mine whatever night
I finally stop with the bags
of hundreds in the trunk,
though by my guess
I'm still thousands shy
of what's needed for the deal.
By William Aarnes
Biography:
William Aarnes has published four collections of poetry, the latest being The Hum in Human (Main Street Rag, 2022).
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