appealing

The Maynard
Spring 2018

Millicent Borges Accardi
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Between Then and Then

I was dreaming of falling
houses and saying obscene
things to one another, like
the issue at heart, it was
infidelity. The closed
palms saying amen.
The praying, or the lack of doing so.
There was a great noise
between us that talking could not
mend. We lived poor, neglected
lives, suffering through a lack
of owning our own five senses
with not enough wisdom
to know the on-putting scent
of a trail of the path before us.
Being fresh as the air after a rain.
In a tumult, we were facing
our own demons
and getting into a discussion
that was never quite
at the bottom of what was at hand.
Putting our fingers on a word we
both knew but could not drum
up in a pinch. We were seeking
like things. What letter did it
start with, sweet, we inquired?
Was it a “P” or an “S”?
Out of the corner of my eye,
more or less, I saw a temper,
a blow up storm arriving like a sea
boiling as water does in a flat pot,
on the level, rolling steady, and at once,
I remember your saying this.