Echo

A hollow cough.
A shiver under cotton sheets.
A whisper through the telephone.
A shudder down the spine.

Mason jars, traced with dust,
stand on shelves by windows
painted shut.

Mirrors cracked or chipped with imperfection.

Canopied lights on the patio.
A swinging chair.
A cup of coffee.
Magazines, yellowed and dog-eared,
scattered by the bathroom door.

The rythym of chirp and chatter.
The clunking of engines.
The chime of church bells.

A tune from the wooden floor.
A melody from brass, drums, winds.
An orchestra of untouched strings.

Stranded

and there the water
blue and green
white with foam
spreads over land.

crushing it.
erasing it.

the lapping waves etch along the line
and at the center
me.