Lisa Fay Coutley: Duplex

        From the other side of the wall I hear 
	the woman who could just as easily be

	me in my bathroom  repeating  I  am   
	forty   forty   I am forty  like a rehearsal 

	for the next man who will ask her age
	the way a mother must remind herself 

	your son is a homeless drug addict  your son is 
	your son is a homeless drug addict   your son   

	until it becomes real & she can pretend 
	that this day can be different from the one 

	that came before or that will come after
	her in those moments before sleep

	when she hears thunder & pictures him 
	chin-up in a mummy bag in that city park 

	where last night she had his dinner  
	delivered to him & felt the earth spin 

	even further out of control & her life 
	she is sure is at least half over though 

	he doesn’t even have a mummy bag  just 
	a pair of sweats a t-shirt a ratty blanket &

	she convinces herself this is his last meal. 

Lisa Fay Coutley’s books include tether (Black Lawrence Press, 2020). She is the recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and Associate Professor of Poetry & Creative Nonfiction at the University of Nebraska Omaha Writer’s Workshop.  

Copyright 2020 Lisa Fay Coutley.