Sure Ear

Rain in the desert,
grey sky, gray sky—what’s the difference?
When it hits my glass the past grows fuzz.

Any sequence is related—
Orphan, nectarine, barrette…And so forth
until the bed of the pond’s gone dry.

I am looking to find my own voice
underneath, or maybe on top of,
rubble mountain—

But like anyone else,
my dreams consist of images—and lost children,
never in that exact order.

I took your picture once, at the mouth
of a cave so dark
you seemed the candle—

By definition dear ought to be a preposition—
But everything looks greener when wet.
Ordinary enough, for a Thursday,

the radio some thousand miles away
daily receives your little letters
of much to-do and folderol—

Lonesome with—So old it’s boring.
Beside me breathes noisily while I remember,
objects lay, people lie.

To walk backwards, what a notion!
Even the night sky overflows with music—
The flowered curtain moving with the fan

like a dancer beating her own legs with her skirt,
yellow in the morning,
grey in this pitchy dark—

On Rachmaninoff’s Birthday

Beyond my balcony a man walks home
planning a party with the air.
He’s considering themes for the occasion,
like men in uniform or pop stars
from the last millennia.
It’s Sunday again like always
and I am too blue for themes or occasions,
having missed the shepherd who walks
the hill after mass with his harmonica,
keeping our dusty weather in check for the week ahead.
What do I know of currents, directions—
My favorite duck I left south in a storm,
and only because she would not sing for me.
Lately whenever I am invited to parties I do not go.
When I am not invited I plan
on being really angry, but I forget, fall asleep,
wake up in buttoned jeans.
You can’t blame anyone.

Tropical Depression

Around me life swims, then crawls
I watch without sight
Having forgotten how to make a thing happen

Anne Gerard is a Midwestern poet. Born in Detroit, she is currently pursuing a PhD in Comparative Literature at Washington University, in St. Louis. Her work can be found in berlin lit, The Cincinnati Review, and Image Journal, among others.