A Fold of Sun
We decided I
should go alone
on foot. I
would find
him in
the pharmacy. If
he said ‘In
the head of
God all propositions
have existed
always,’ we would make
the exchange.
He was standing
in front of the
calamine lotion.
He spoke to the
air. I slipped
the envelope into
his pocket and
bought a topical
analgesic to
avoid suspicion.
When I left, I
had a face
again, could open
an account, drink
coffee in the
sun. On the street two
women talked
of money. I paid them
no mind. I
could now always
walk with my light
to the front.
Copyright © 2016 by Magdalena Zurawski. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 21, 2016, by the Academy of American Poets.