Moving Sideways in Four Parts

I. I Loved You When

We will find lovers for our improved
selves, that person the other had
wanted us to be. But nobody
will love the old us again.

II. Missing

I like to be hungry
on vacation. I go through too much
of my life well fed.

III. Sleep, Sex, and Poetry

Repetition doesn't matter.

The fact that I’ve done each
for decades is no assurance
I can do them again.

The past is no guide to the future.

Tiny differences in approach
can be disaster.

Anxiety is prophecy.

IV. Door

This is no
ordinary
metaphor.

I just saw it
for the first time.
This is no invitation.

In the streetlight
it’s always there,
hiding in plain sight.

Stainless steel
and dirty glass.

A girl acts naturally.
This is no invitation.

Charles D. J. Case is a writer from Buffalo, New York. His poetry has been published in Peach Mag, An Anthology of Western New York Poets, Beyond Bones, Nomad, and Cholla Needles. His first Book, Nectarines, Vodka, Sundays, and Death will be released in 2018 by Finishing Line Press.