Crab Orchard Review Vol. 12, No. 2, our
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Crab Orchard Review Vol. 12, No. 2, our

Crab Orchard Review Vol. 12, No. 2, our Crab Orchard Review Vol. 12, No. 2, our

craborchardreview.siu.edu
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22.03.2013 Views

Shane Seely First Anniversary for Sonia I will bring you paper— by the sheaf, by the ream, by the leaf, onionskin, acid-free, oak tag, construction, wax paper, parchment, archival quality, wallpaper, cigarette paper, toilet paper, paper towels, old calendars, memoranda, maps and cash, charts and books, certificates, treatises, dissertations, magazines, translated poems with scribbled annotations, newspaper clippings about life-saving dogs and whimsical contests in foreign countries, bags of shredded documents from medical and insurance offices, origami, credit card bills, place markers from fancy dinners, syllabi, junk mail, comic books, business cards, name tags saying Hi My Name Is on which the wearers have written false names, this notebook, the Bill of Rights, a grocery bag, my Earth Science lab notebook from junior high covered with artful renderings of rock band names, a note someone left me once for parking too close to his car that said next time leave a can opener, asshole— by the leaf, by the sheaf, by the ream I will leave it at your feet on our first anniversary (that remembrance thinner than paper, translucent but with a cumulative gravity, the first page of a long mystery thrillingly unsolved). 182 ◆ Crab Orchard Review

Leslie St. John After Epithalamia Empty the hope chest of its dishes. Leave Christmas ornaments wrapped in newspaper. Close the wedding album. No, keep it in the corner of the crawl space in the attic. Rubber-band the cards that say how to love and for how long. If the toaster makes you cry—silliest birthday gift—its blink-on red light and tray of burnt bread crumbs, eat cereal for breakfast instead. Spend an afternoon on the phone with your bridesmaids, the one with new breasts, the one with a farm and kids and pigs, the one who dances and doesn’t talk to you anymore, the one getting married. Admit that you can’t be in her wedding. Hang up the phone before she answers. Tell the groom you love him like birds love iced-over powerlines. And it’s okay if you both keep looking to the accompanist, surprised by the piano’s flatness, handful of stones falling into sand. Crab Orchard Review ◆ 183

Shane Seely<br />

First Anniversary<br />

for Sonia<br />

I will bring you paper—<br />

by the sheaf, by the ream, by the leaf,<br />

onionskin, acid-free, oak tag, construction,<br />

wax paper, parchment, archival quality,<br />

wallpaper, cigarette paper, toilet paper, paper towels,<br />

old calendars, memoranda,<br />

maps and cash, charts and books,<br />

certificates, treatises, dissertations, magazines,<br />

translated poems with scribbled annotations,<br />

newspaper clippings about life-saving dogs<br />

and whimsical contests in foreign countries,<br />

bags of shredded documents from medical and insurance offices,<br />

origami, credit card bills, place markers from fancy dinners,<br />

syllabi, junk mail, comic books, business cards,<br />

name tags saying Hi My Name Is on which the wearers<br />

have written false names,<br />

this notebook, the Bill of Rights, a grocery bag,<br />

my Earth Science lab notebook from junior high<br />

covered with artful renderings of rock band names,<br />

a note someone left me once for parking too close to his car<br />

that said next time leave a can opener, asshole—<br />

by the leaf, by the sheaf, by the ream<br />

I will leave it at y<strong>our</strong> feet<br />

on <strong>our</strong> first anniversary (that remembrance<br />

thinner than paper, translucent<br />

but with a cumulative gravity,<br />

the first page of a long mystery<br />

thrillingly unsolved).<br />

182 ◆ <strong>Crab</strong> <strong>Orchard</strong> <strong>Review</strong>

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