What Gets Away

Not the name calling. Carefully selected
words shoot right to the source of insecurities,
fester under days of silence as taut as a spider’s
web. Not the mumbled goodnights. Close-lipped
cheek kisses and stony backs where blackness settles
between spaces of not touching. What gets away is
votive candles lighting back steps, big red bows tied
around our dogs’ collars, slow dancing in the kitchen
the only music, our bodies.

*Lisa Siedlarz is pursuing a Masters in Creative Writing at SCSU. Named the 2005-2006 SCSU Graduate Poet, her credits include: Breakwater, Skyline, Thousand Poems Project, CADUCEUS II and III, Connecticut River Review, Louisiana Literature, FOLIO, Rattle, and Alimentum. She is the Editorial Assistant for Connecticut River Review, and graduate poetry reader for Connecticut Review. She works as the Financial Aid Administrator for Southern Connecticut State University.