In this version,
Irene wrings her hands
and sets her throat to sea.

She carries
a soft patchwork quilt
stitched with

last words.
There is no regret,
she says,

but she has to say that, doesn’t she?

Otherwise,
the fog that lines
the trees would turn

to mushrooms and rot
and underneath,
only a burrow of worms.

Irene, the earth
is too soft for me.
Give me acid rain.

Give me a place to rake
my fingers in sand
and follow a path out of here.

Irene, get me a belt

and a gallon of gasoline.
Get me a plastic bag
and a knife. Get me a hose

and masking tape.
The little stars keep watching
for a way out of the night.

If they can hold their breath
a little while longer,
morning will open its eyes.

Sandy Coomer is a poet and artist living in Brentwood, TN. Her poetry has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, and she is the author of three poetry chapbooks, including the most recent, Rivers Within Us (Unsolicited Press). A full length collection, Available Light, will be published in 2019 by Iris Press. Sandy is the founding editor of the online poetry journal Rockvale Review, the curator of the ekphrastic poetry project 20/20 Vision, a Poetic Response to Photography, and the founder and director of Rockvale Writers’ Colony, located in College Grove, TN. She is a teacher, a seeker, a dreamer, and an explorer. Her favorite word is “Believe.”