Reservoir

by Taneum Bambrick 

I.

Where did you meet her

he asked.

By the park fence, the weed

whacker

she was towering her hair

fingers

teasing out dead grass.

It was her job, she

shoveled the bathroom

snakes in half.

 

II.

I didn’t know how.

Stained glass

at the peak of the house.

Crouched in

her attic room. Wood & wire.

Insulation

stapled with tapestries.

I put my leg between her legs.

I could.

I didn’t want to be

a boy sliding

off her bra

with one hand.

 

III.

First time

both ways

burning the end on a short string—

thinking

I only have a little left of

what

 

IV.

She cut a flower from

the yard

when she left

before me.

It’s the same when anyone leaves

their handwriting.

It’s the same.

She hasn’t.

I feel she’s done a bad thing.

 

V.

When I hear your name

she said

I think

of your wrists.

This made lake.

As empty as

water gets.

University & College Poetry Prizes Page