National Poetry Month : Kate Hargreaves,

 

Duplex

 

—carve trees into my back door.
          Radio on mute, network television upstairs steaming
through the bathroom pipes, curtains, pillow covers
ashy
          Ceiling shakes
peat moss down through cracks in the stucco
with every step rocking apt. 2 floorboards         

          Stalactites or mites quake through the corners
of my kitchen, scrape the paint off cabinets
leak chilly grey water off their tips onto
breakfast dishes: soggy egg whites, overlapping coffee stains.         

          Shreds of your sofa, brocade, batting,
nylon thread blow out
through vents above my bed. Warm air
and feather down.
          In February,
snow melts down your steep front steps,
sneakers collecting icy run-off in our
shared lobby.
In July you fill my boots with sand. 

 

 

 

Kate Hargreaves (she/her) is a writer and book designer in Windsor, Ontario. Her poetry collection Leak was published by Book*hug in 2014, and her second book of poetry, tend, will be released in 2022. She is also the author of Jammer Star, a hi-lo novel for young readers (Orca, 2019), and Talking Derby, a book of prose vignettes (Black Moss, 2013). She usually spends her free time playing roller derby, but she's been busy recovering from a very broken leg. Find her work online at CorusKate.com.