232
Sonnets From Other Lives: Andy

She finds him underneath the bed—
silent—locked down—deep inside himself.
She knows then he’d heard everything they’d said.
Andy? You all right? But she can tell
he’s not alright & probably won’t be
alright for some time now. Come on out
from there honey. We can read
The Jungle Book. But in her mind her doubts
flit like fruit flies. She lays on the floor
beside his bed. He’s curled like a cat—
his hoodie pulled over his head. He’s four.
How long will his memory hold that
moment that put him here? Forever?
Like a string grown too entwined to sever?

231
Sonnets From Other Lives:Gordon

Gordon just cashed out the IRA,
sold the condo, all the furniture,
gassed up the Accord & drove away.
Gail, his ex, drunk dialed him once. Her
voice cracking up, demanding explanations.
He had nothing. Look we’re breaking up…
he said & blocked her number. A station
out of Phoenix played Bartok. He bought a cup
of coffee at a truck stop outside Barstow.
Seagulls swirled around him in L.A.
Just outside of Portland he hit snow.
He hadn’t planned his getaway
or anything. He just wanted to leave.
& leave he will as long as he can breathe.

231
Sonnets From Other Lives: Norma

Many people took her for a fool.
Most likely it was all those wide-eyed questions.
The answers came back with a cruel
edge of sarcasm & that expression
of superiority that stupid people have
when failing to see their stupidity.
For a time these moments mad her sad.
But in a moment of lucidity,
it struck her she’d been leading them all on
letting them believe their condescension.
What can you do? She’s just a dumb blonde.
She was too kind puncture their pretensions—
too shy to confront them, so instead
she turned into everything they said.

Welcome to the New Religious Freedom.
While Freedom of Religion 1.0
concerned itself with practicing ones creed
independent of state interference,
this new iteration’s main concern
is the freedom to impose restrictions
on those who may not necessarily
agree with one’s deeply held convictions.
i.e. the freedom to restrict their right to marry,
or the freedom to withhold contraception,
or the freedom to force women to carry
fetuses to term, (even at the cost of their own lives).
Who knew that Freedom meant the imposition
of another’s will on the unwilling?
One's position is by definition weak
if it must be couched in such Orwellian Newspeak.

230
Sonnets From Other Lives: Jimmy G

Word was that Jimmy G was quite the rounder
in the months when he come back from war.
That all ended (he said) when he found her.
Told Krissy he didn’t need wild times no more
but then you know one thing led to another.
The mill shut down & that didn’t help none.
Krissy said she wasn’t ‘bout to be his mother
as Jimmy fell back to havin’ his fun
in roadhouses & honky tonks & bars
& towns all up & down the interstate.
He made a few bucks fixin’ up old cars
but spent it all carousin’ until late
night early morning. It was kinda sad. He
weren’t worth shit—just like his own daddy.

229
Sonnets From Other Lives: Minna

Minna was confused at first and thought
he hadn’t said it—didn’t mean it—but
he had & did & (stupid!) she had not
seen it coming. She just sat there. What
do you mean? I just don’t understand
it, that’s all. He looked exasperated.
Is that why you asked me here? You planned
it all out in advance? The space created
around her was expanding as she spoke.
Nebulae were drifting into clouds.
She went outside & lit a smoke.
Asshole! Had she just said that aloud?
What now? Walk away? Go back inside?
She finally got it. There was nothing to decide.

228
Sonnets From Other Lives: The Girl of His Dream

She is not the girl of his dreams
per se. He would more accurately put
it that she was the girl of one dream.
One dream that had been inserting its foot
into the doorway of his consciousness
all too frequently these days. When in
this nearly petit mal state, he's distressed
that he can't even remember if or when
he even met her—in real life that is.
(He’d only barely met her that one time,but
something must have registered in his
alcoholically befuddled mind.
Will he ever really see the girl again?
His hands still feel the smoothness of her skin.