topographic
by Jeri Theriault

topographic

by Jeri Theriault


hi-fi skip-skipping dishes undone. my mother

in the kitchen [sometimes] sang. jig she

laughed. she spun mud-hues &

churned.


my father stilled. whisper-mild sub-zero

hosed the backyard rink where I soloed

in the dark. skates skish-skish.

soothe.

together they steamed & hissed. mother flared

volcanic ash. father glaciered – sudden

mile-deep moulins. risky fault

line.

sizzle -snap. cool & thaw they parted seismic

grew old. she left wit & red. he left

star-light. cold brook.