The secret door through which we come and go
appears in the shape of an almond at the back of the head,
showing up from time to time in theaters, schools,
churches, buildings you want to call home,
and on that junker in the damp grass,
as you stand slightly apart, there, and I take you
like a thrown kiss and press you into my chest
where your ghostly fingers curling like a prisoner’s
around the bars of my ribs glow like rays of light.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 25, Issue 6.
Douglas Cole has published six poetry collections and the novel The White Field, winner of the American Fiction Award. His work has appeared in journals such as Beloit Poetry, Fiction International, Valpariaso, The Gallway Review and Two Hawks Quarterly; as well anthologies such as Bully Anthology (Hopewell), Bindweed Anthology, and Work (Unleash Press). He contributes a regular column called “Trading Fours” to the magazine, Jerry Jazz Musician; articles and interviews in Mythaxis; and editorial selections of American writers for Blue Citadel, a section of Read Carpet, a journal of international writing produced in Columbia.
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