It's Going to Happen Quickly This Time
By Mia Romanoff
It's going to happen quickly this time.
It was cold and I couldn’t breathe yet
It was cold last Tuesday but it could have been Wednesday
It was Wednesday in all the ways that mattered.
Butter yellow and the sun was the only thing that didn’t make sense.
It was raining and I minded
It was raining and you wouldn’t look at me
It was raining and it could have been just that
Just water, just pavement – wet jeans, aching
Wet jeans pulling at my calves
It’s going to happen quickly this time
Walk to the sea, around the bend
You’ll be right where you started.
That is to say you’ll get yourself home
That is to say run faster
Nowhere is just around the bend.
It’s going to happen quickly this time
Miss it this time.
It will do you well to lie on the pavement.
It is wet and cold; it will be summer if you close your eyes
Melt – It’s a bit like giving up; it’s a bit like walking around the
Bend into me.
Curve your spine and you will be a tree
Two hands behind your head
They are not your hands but it doesn’t matter anymore
Your nose has flattened and the steam has risen.
It’s going to happen quickly this time
You are roots; you are a ghost
It is Wednesday tomorrow
It will rain tomorrow except it never does, it –
Pour yourself a drink and wait;
It is still yesterday in all the ways that matter.
Whisper this time; it will do you well to let your lips touch
Softly this time, it is a shadow this time.
Follow the street lamps, they will be brighter than the stars.
Follow the street lamps, the bulbs have collapsed to dust.
Burn this time, the rain is coming in the morning
Crawl this time, your knees will learn how to slip into the gravel
Beg this time, stand up straight and look me in the eyes.
I walked by our old apartment last night
The lights were on and no one was laughing
That is to say it has been tomorrow since spring; that is to say there is dust covering the windowsills.
I talk;
You listen
Your ears are in your hands
That is to say you are bleeding, that is to say your ears are no longer yours.
I stare;
You talk
Tell me how the pieces fit together.
It’s going to happen quickly this time
The boxes are mine
You have left your dishes – you are done.
You do not walk backwards
You march forward, around the bend
And it is the start, I have not met you yet
And it is the start, they say it will rain at noon.
