so i stroked your hair, and you knew . . . thought you were asleep. thought beer and oblivion held you, securely protected from knowing so i stroked your hair, and you knew all the time...

This is what you've done to me. No, you would remind me that this is what I have done to myself. I sit here at this desk. The desk faces the door. The phone hangs silently beside the door...

Hot still Sundays fanning ladies advertized Elzie Funeral Home sweated dark spots on mail-order dresses shouted "Amen" when Preacher Green told how the Lord loved them — especially Miss Fryback who no one loved who yelled "Amen and Hallelejuh" all in one breath...

There will be raspberries on these thorny stalks — if it rains Gooseberries, even if it doesn't Spiny brush grabs at my jeans I drop a twig into stagnant creek and watch it drift Leggy cal¥es race from shade to shade And 1 find you nearby...