Bear and reindeer cut up on a plate.
An endless cave.
A duvet of darkness.
Your notes piping and plaintive I think
are still down there though
they traveled ahead of you
too. They walked all the way
back to the vineyards
where we slept. You were
now and then just a tiny
bit cruel to children
because you were a child.
Matthew Rohrer is the author of seven books of poems, most recently Destroyer and Preserver, published by Wave Books. One of his tattoos has been featured in two different books of literary tattoos. He lives in Brooklyn.
