-a very good place-

the Song of (the other) Bernadette

there's a place,

a place which holds-fast to the scent

of standing water, of mold on damp plaster,

and of rusting metal; a place of stillness

and silence far below the commotion

of family and their chattering company;

a place where nothing is set in motion, and even

the vacant atmosphere is enough to cool the skin of our faces;

down the creaking stairs, bending at the waists

from low-lying beams, with nobody above our heads

questioning our whereabouts, where it’s dead-

slow ahead in navigating the dank approach bypassing the wire-

hung 40 watt incandescent bulb nearing its existence,

the cobwebs and the pipes, downward, downward to a very good place.

Quequechan / a love story