I ran out on the sidewalk<\/p>\n
under the broken streetlight<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
dry leaves chuffing overhead<\/p>\n
like someone rubbing their palms in a black room<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
a muffled radio from a parked car<\/p>\n
blue drool dribbling from its tailpipe<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the green needle of the radio dial<\/p>\n
like a knife\u2019s edge in a dream<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I heard you calling my name<\/p>\n
like I was in trouble<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
like you were right there beside me<\/p>\n
with an unwashed cup in your hand<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
but I knew you weren\u2019t outside<\/p>\n
I watched you leave the yard<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
barefoot in your robe of fireflies<\/p>\n
I knew the house was empty<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the lukewarm sleeping flank of the drier<\/p>\n
the dishwasher\u2019s matted pelt<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
the long black velvet box of the hall<\/p>\n
blood on the keys<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was always the child who had to look<\/p>\n
who went in the study with the torn chairs and stuffed birds<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
who upended the trinket box and found your fob<\/p>\n
my breath rattling in my throat like bones shaking in a dice cup<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I saw the hot coil a carful of blue smoke<\/p>\n
why didn\u2019t the driver help me<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mother shrugged as you led me away<\/p>\n
to the inevitable chamber<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
where dead girls moulder in velvet gowns<\/p>\n
locked in like wives<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I ran out on the sidewalk \/ under the broken streetlight … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4525,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[6,1225,1226],"class_list":["post-4523","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-bluebeards-servants","tag-sara-wallace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n