Weather
Peter Grandbois
And there are days when the body expects
to usurp the flock of starlings winging
against the squirm of mid-morning cold.
And others when the mind breathes its own dust,
like an asthmatic city choking on
the moldy gasp of autumn’s failing light.
And those when our voices wake to find
they have no more claim on us than an ocean
curling toward the delightful shape of shore.
And so what is left to do but tender
the field between hip and thigh, fold
our wrinkled past about us like a pressed
shirt, undressing regret until each
cloud reflects an empty sky.
Peter Grandbois is the author of ten books, the most recent of which is half-burnt (Spuyten Duyvil, 2019). His poems, stories, and essays have appeared in over one hundred journals. His plays have been performed in St. Louis, Columbus, Los Angeles, and New York. He is the Poetry Editor for Boulevard magazine and teaches at Denison University in Ohio. You can find him at www.petergrandbois.com.