Countries, Little Notes

She lives in the habit of leaving things
countries, little notes

This morning I awoke to this:
I’m sorry, last night in the middle

of everything I remembered
a previous engagement

in the Russian countryside
but if ever you’re in Minsk

please feel free
etc. etc. Sincerely

She lives in the habit of leaving things
towns, clothes

last April she went to Baltimore
wearing one shoe

I discovered the other
late, sleepless

under the mattress.

I live in the habit of recalling things
evenings, little sayings

all September or close to an hour
together, dark

in the hallway she said:
maybe you should go ahead

and unlock the door.

I live in the habit of creating consolations
small, horrible

she just lives in the habit of leaving things
I say or

maybe I’m not the only one
who finds himself now

suffering the South
in an empty house

keeping sad company
with a shoe and a blouse.

–September 27, 1992