Recessional

The crowded
elevator disappeared

between floors.
Pedestrians stood

weeping at the crosswalk.
She still loves you,

said the old man
walking a dog on a rope.

I smelled the salt
of the nearby tears.

It took two
or three matches

before the light
would stay lit.

Howie Good is the author of a full-length poetry collection, Lovesick, as well as 21 print and digital poetry chapbooks, including most recently, Hello, Darkness, available from Deadly Chaps.