Elahe’s body was eventually brought out
from beneath the shattered tin roof
of the sports hall in Lamerd.
when you sleep
you sleep in my humming
radio ambience
this layer of atmosphere
that hovers above every skin
This is the first time you’ve ever been drunk
in this house.
Lying on the floor saying
I might not be a real person.
Dedicated to Tillie Olsen
Because to me, Winooski is the opposite of Yonnondio,
not a dirge, not lost, very much passed to the future.
In the predawn hours, the driver
goes out in the cold or the sticky dew
to look under the hood, inspect the engine,
the axles, the windshield, the tailpipe.
