There is More than One Way to Die by Breathing
after Sam Sax's poem 'Objectophile'
by Valerie Sopher
under the weight of fire air
the sky collapses
ashes caress the porch
enticing open
hungry mouths of cloth masks
left for essential workers
unessential I breathe
lingering singed scent of
left-over air
unessential I stay inside
waiting for a lost train
instead a frayed platform
a board of broken numbers
a carpet bag of torn tickets
before the fires
I would breathe through windows
thrown open to dreams
the sound of a distant train
panting on a still night
sniffing broken rails wild-eyed
for a way home
lemons are dropping from
the backyard tree
the weight of fire air
in their pretty yellow dresses
I would take them to parties
you can still remember
frayed thoughts
what it was like
a way home
the train licks its burnt paws
on tracks overgrown
with missed connections
the fire alert system keeps calling
and hanging up
a frayed platform
maybe the numbers
will click into place
I wonder what to do
with all the lemons
About the Author
Valerie Sopher is a retired public interest lawyer living in Northern California. She studies poetry at the San Francisco Creative Writing Institute. Nature is her greatest inspiration.