They is, they is, they is.
–Tobias Woolf
Mostly your balled up fist smashing
into me again and again and again,
that one night after the one
who says preferred the pronoun “they”
left you in the aftermath of un-
counted kisses, some deep, some reckless,
some even tender, in the here
and there of their body, lit up in the dark
of a dream, that dreamy night. Their –
– his – words were coffins dropping
through your pulse and the window of every syl-
lable: “I don’t think I can
do this. I’m sorry I don’t think
I can.” Then the getting dressed, one
person now, a leaving, a door
slam – it has its own story
to tell. And now just you, the kisses
of fist in my soft, placid face.
Stuart Lishan’s poems, fiction, and creative nonfiction have been published in venues such as the KENYON REVIEW, SANTA MONICA REVIEW, ARTS & LETTERS, BELLINGHAM REVIEW, CHICAGO REVIEW, CREATIVE NONFICTION and YOUR IMPOSSIBLE VOICE. My book of poems, BODY TAPESTRIES, was published by Dream Horse Press.
