Tad Richards
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EXTENSION
the same shadow extends
from inside to outside
the church is naked
and the courtyard cloaked
the door is open
and then closed
that’s when we’re lured back
only to be turned
away when it opens
again and we hear
inaudible footsteps
they may be getting nearer
we’d go in if we could be sure
it was the last stop
the light could be turned off
the name of home never uttered
SOME WOMEN
Some women
kill husbands with
rat poison in coffee
some take a pistol
at close range
in the bedroom
close the door behind them
or the bathroom on
tiles that clean
with a damp sponge
never the kitchen but
she’ll serve coffee there
sit across
from him and talk
about his horoscope
yard sales Rock Cornish
hens and baked
potatoes she
watches steam rise as if
from fissures in a
photo of
Yellowstone Park
on a wall calendar
from an insurance
agency
DON’T ASK QUESTIONS
Don’t ask questions
answers have already
taken the back roads
sniffing for
signs of your spoor
you don’t want to meet them
they sweat cruelty
they’ll eat you
and that’s nothing
that’s still the easy part
they knock on your door
ask your wife
to borrow your
golf clubs power mower
hibachi or her
for the night
she’ll acquiesce
they have credentials and
sonorous voices
and that’s still
the easy part
your dog comes to them next
she rolls over her
leg twitches
you’re forgotten
the same shadow extends
from inside to outside
the church is naked
and the courtyard cloaked
the door is open
and then closed
that’s when we’re lured back
only to be turned
away when it opens
again and we hear
inaudible footsteps
they may be getting nearer
we’d go in if we could be sure
it was the last stop
the light could be turned off
the name of home never uttered
SOME WOMEN
Some women
kill husbands with
rat poison in coffee
some take a pistol
at close range
in the bedroom
close the door behind them
or the bathroom on
tiles that clean
with a damp sponge
never the kitchen but
she’ll serve coffee there
sit across
from him and talk
about his horoscope
yard sales Rock Cornish
hens and baked
potatoes she
watches steam rise as if
from fissures in a
photo of
Yellowstone Park
on a wall calendar
from an insurance
agency
DON’T ASK QUESTIONS
Don’t ask questions
answers have already
taken the back roads
sniffing for
signs of your spoor
you don’t want to meet them
they sweat cruelty
they’ll eat you
and that’s nothing
that’s still the easy part
they knock on your door
ask your wife
to borrow your
golf clubs power mower
hibachi or her
for the night
she’ll acquiesce
they have credentials and
sonorous voices
and that’s still
the easy part
your dog comes to them next
she rolls over her
leg twitches
you’re forgotten