Rummy Park, 30
(Detour)

by Rebecca Lu Kiernan

Beyond the collision of worlds
That we call chaos
Because a plan would be too dangerous,
Silently we pick up the pieces,
Charred artifacts and body parts.
Everything neat now,
Catalogued and clean
Waiting in the evidence room
For bomb experts and lawyers.

Floating above the courtroom,
I stop above a black splinter
That once was our sea foam green door
And kiss it, kiss it
Slow and kind
Where our footfall stopped every morning,
As we embraced and said goodbye
Casually as if we were ever coming home.

We meet at Big Sky Barbecue
By the park where it all began.
I’ve got fire in a Ziplock.
You’ve got my poems in your hands.
The willows tremble
Through the neon-framed window.
I want them to forget,
I want you to forgive
That I closed my eyes when we kissed
And saw another man,
Unruly ghost that your quiet affection
Has politely waved away.