January 2023 Bookclub
Night of Nesting Dolls Bren Simmers
Night of nesting dolls,
many layers held
inside this one:
cocktails on the balcony,
supper at eight, the after-
dinner doubles games,
while kids pump legs
on swing sets.
At sundown, an old man
shuffles three times
around the park. Nightly,
I've started to look for
his cross-country gait,
tan paperboy cap,
started to call him ours.
Then falls the deep blue
scrim and the few
stars we can spot
amid shipyard cranes
and lights on Grouse.
So brief,
the smallest doll
is sleep.
Lines for Little Mila by Norman Dubie
