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.