The Breathing
the sound of respiration / hot air through oak leaves / though she’s been / for months / garden ash in the root ball of a pink hydrangea / her tennis net strains toward the familiar / a longer line across the lawn / than when she sat beside me / the hypnotic of that small machine / tsss ah / tsss ah / hydraulic wheeze / a jolt on every train / the hiss of steam / a single café latte / a sizzle in every scrambled pour / her empty seat / the flushing suck of every airplane loo/ the persistence of her plastic bag / blowing sour on my neck / i’m coughing days / departures / as bubbles blow into an unsettled gut / tsss ah / tsss ah / the stems of her watery shrub / sealed / cocooned / where even the garden hose / is on a timer
Robert Carr is the author of Amaranth, published by Indolent Books, and The Unbuttoned Eye, from 3: A Taos Press. Among other publications his poetry appears in The Chestnut Review, On the Seawall, Sixth Finch and Tar River Poetry. He is a 2022 artist residency recipient at Monson Arts and lives in Maine.