Circumstance

peacefully I invite
the sane monster to my glass

after the movie he begs circumstance
to re-enact his wishes

I do the same in my kitchen
the smell of it infuses my clothes

I could change them
but not you

if I looked
you were in my dream looking back

my hand hurting now
from trying to undo it

I am afraid I will make us dumb
maybe it will make us true

Bonnie Emerick is a professor at Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA. Her poetry has appeared in Caketrain, How2, Little Red Leaves, WOMB, Cannibal, Interim, Quarter After Eight and elsewhere.