January 09, 2023

 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





Free Beer by  Diane Seuss