Millicent Borges Accardi

Carrying Someone You’d not Seen in 15 Years

The body goes light,           as if keeping            a piece of paper,
soft         and              awkward in your           arms.
There is a pulse         and so you              continue.
They              are without           words or sounds.
You imagine calling          a hospital                  and screaming
into the phone at the ER  nurse           to put              your mother
on the other end.  It is night time, isn’t it
always? And               you are in a hotel           in New York
City, two days            past           Valentine’s, and
one day         past the anniversary,           the first             year
your parents did not           dance                around the
room,            your mother        hovering            over your
Father’s shoes            as if she          were                                            already.

 


Millicent Borges Accardi, a Portuguese-American writer, is the author of three poetry books, most recently Only More So (Salmon Poetry). Her awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), CantoMundo, the California Arts Council, Yaddo, Fundação Luso-Americana, and Barbara Deming Foundation.

 

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