At first, we are waiting on a large terrace. A clatter of plates.
Distant footsteps. All the languages are foreign. Everyone has a dog.
Twice as many people as expected are here.
We are on a list but not the most important one.
We are asked to leave. By whose authority, I loudly demand.
People turn to stare. Some mutter. Perhaps this is all a mistake.
You point out inconsistencies in the man’s vocabulary.
It appears that he is reading from a script on his cell phone.
We are sitting on the edge of a king-sized bed.
Our foreheads are touching, or possibly our hands.
We review what has happened. We seek explanations.
None of our theories are an exact fit for the circumstances.
I ask if other people always finish your sentences.
That, you tell me, is true poetry.
MICHAEL COONEY has taught in high schools and community colleges in New York City and is currently a facilitator with the New York Writers Coalition. His short stories and poetry have appeared in Sundial, Bandit Fiction, Badlands, Bitter Oleander, Second Chance Lit, and other journals, and his novella, “The Witch Girl & The Wobbly,” was published by Running Wild Press in 2021. @mjcooney1205