The August Preoccupations
So this morning I made a list
of obsessions and you were on it.
And waiting, and forgiveness, and five-dollar bills,
and despots, telescopes, anonymity, beauty,
silent comedy, and waiting.
I could forswear all these things
and just crawl back into the bed
you and I once slept in.
What would happen then?
Play any film backwards and it’s elegy.
Play it fast-forward it’s a gas.
I try not to get attached.
But Lincoln!
I see stars when I look at him.
Copyright © 2015 by Catherine Barnett. Originally published in the Summer 2015 issue of Tin House. Used with permission of the author.