By Samantha Malay
on sidewalks slick with rotting leaves
we wait for a freight train to pass
don’t oversleep
we will meet in the middle
of an empty room
in a town of hard shadows
windshield glare and drooping vines
and I will know you by the clothes you once wore
books we misplaced
birds we saw when the car broke down
we are rivers hidden under opaque skies
glass fuses on a basement shelf
the sound of dogs up the street
Copyright Malay 2021
Samantha Malay ’s work recently appeared in TINGE Magazine and In Parentheses, and will soon be published by Kind Writers and Five South. She was born in Berlin, Germany, grew up in rural northeastern Washington State, and is a graduate of Seattle University’s sociology program. A theatrical wardrobe technician by trade, she is also a mixed-media artist and poetry editor in residence at Flying Ketchup Press. Her published words can be found at https://thistleandhasp.wordpress.com.
All work by Samantha Malay
