I am bell and ghost
And throwing dice quietly watching
the crow in the street puff and contract
in the cold we are all alone together
sipping coffee while staring at screens
out window into city street lined with
leaves still brown and crusted
our whispers pepper the ground
seeding what might be what could happen
and other ghosts to populate late night walks
dreaming of far away brought closer
of hands reaching across county lines
of feet shuffling through empty halls
I am shadow and siren
And stacking receipts in the sun
patently wishing for neighbors to move
from house and also from this wintering
of birds and treeleaf
bells toll on the hill
mark the end of morning and quiet and
all that is still in my brain the day sent packing
trudging through commercial district and over
field spreading statistical analysis of CO2 and
architectural renderings the floors creak the
shift siren sounds day is here and here and here
I am bird-chirp and bent knee
And tree budding pink sending shadow
across the lawn whisper into quiet and
cold drift along the edge of hills
I am trade-wind and lost hours and nose-
nudge under collar pleading for a little taste
a better scent to capture to tuck in my pocket
to gather in my store for keeping safe
and where the day takes you I will follow
and when the sun settles deep in the sky
I will be fields silently calling
Megan Kaminski is the author of two books: Deep City (forthcoming, October 2015) and Desiring Map (Coconut Books, 2012). She is an assistant professor in the Graduate Creative Writing Program at the University of Kansas and the founder and curator of the Taproom Poetry Series. www.megankaminski.com/.