JoAnna Novak
—
Au Pif
She wonders what he is doing
timezones foolish as pie on a rack
timer yelling like a parrot
oven hung with vanilla please
have no oven no order
to feed fashion to wait like
no clock that can tell
like a scream in the night
she can tell the dog the kids
the door as it opens and the cactus
hard-trunked alone perfect natural
change of state she is a right angle
patiently blinking triplicate
blink the apples rumming
blink butter under the baseboards
blinking someone hums in his night
she believes this
she will get red and messy
stomach scummed on
mattress eggy and pooled
the leather jacket like an apron
useless but on
shoes under the window
and he comes swinging
tools for contentment
a drama longer than a weekend
she said so they shared a sauce
she clomped up the stairs
they asked a thousand paintings
to tell the story of the ugly same shade
a window overlooking an orange
vendor who also sold rice cookers and posies
JoAnna Novak is the author of the novel I Must Have You (Skyhorse Publishing 2017) and the book-length poem Noirmania (Inside the Castle 2018). Her work has appeared in publications including The Paris Review, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, Guernica and BOMB. She is a co-founder of the literary journal and chapbook publisher, Tammy.
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