Wallpaper

Find a place
where the most recent color
is beginning to peel

and start from there.
Chip away that layer
until another layer

appears. The farther
back you go the less
the choices will make sense;

white, light gray, blue,
fuschia, avocado (disastrous)

though none were made
with indifference.

Keep going long enough
in an old house
like this, keep going

far enough and you’ll
find the wallpaper.
Always magnificent

flowered and patterned
and permanent,
still down there

but unsalvageable,
like most unforgettable years.

–October 10, 2017