8 March 2009 | Vol. 9, No. 1
After Party
Pigment lingers
in the weave of thick paper,
the dusty blood ring
of the wineglass.
The kiss-traced napkins
tossed in piles
like the wrappings of secrets,
disappointingly empty.
Ashes trenched
in the music shelf
have slipped through
the white keys, bedded in whorls
of someone else's skin;
passed on.
Words leave no residue.
She can't read their smeared
insistence on the table, dissolute traces
seeping deep in the carpet,
whispers and praises,
conversational treachery.
How little we can know
of each other.
She stacks the plates,
brushes away
the dew gathered
under an abandoned cup.
It dries slowly
on her blank palm.
About the author:
Jacqueline West's work has appeared in journals including St. Ann's Review, Inkwell, Briar Cliff Review, flashquake, Barnwood, and the Pedestal Magazine. Her chapbook, Cherma, is forthcoming from Parallel Press. More about her work can be found at www.jacquelinewest.net.
For further reading:
Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 9, No. 1, where "After Party" ran on March 8, 2009. List other work with these same labels: poetry.
