Hermit Lessons around your throat at all times a muffler the phone must be always broken or full of static your would-be friends all their hearing aid batteries dead you must have one book that repeats itself and a garden with only tubers in the night in the day overhead silence spills slowly like oil black on oil the pool shines can even catch fire but no one can drink it strong winnowing hands separate atoms from air and no sound can travel your vocal cords heal up like wounds become smooth your two lips knit together no line in the depths of the pool the blind eyes of a fish cannot see that its body shines blue
Laura Sheahen has published poems in Four Way Review, Posse Review, and other journals in the US and UK. Her poetry book The Genie Smiles was printed in India. She lives in Tunisia.
Amethyst Review 