New Poetry: ‘Faith in The Past Tense’ by Caitlin Thomson

We know where this leads. Your hand resting

on my skirt at an Asian fast food place.

 

The dry frost of winter gusts under

the door. Two dates in and we have not kissed yet,

 

you have never bought me food. A past

we cannot revisit without a glow,

 

the peach fuzz hum of confidence that living

in the future brings. I know now

 

that you will kiss me first in an office

chair. That we share a bank account.

 

That you will visit eight grocery stores

before asking me to be your wife.

 

At so many points in that first year, scales

could have tipped, our many moves

 

uncharted yet, could have been made

to separate cities, the same story

 

of Banh Mi on Valentine’s Day, could

be told to friends, as a joke.

Copyright © Caitlin Thomson, 2015.

 

10480202_10102744043027852_4592583624728594828_nCaitlin Thomson just moved for the 15th time. Her work has appeared in numerous places, including: The Literary Review of Canada, The Moth, Going Down Swinging, and the anthology Killer Verse. Her second chapbook Incident Reports was recently released by Hyacinth Girl Press. You can learn more about her writing at www.caitlinthomson.com.

 

 

Images from ‘Human Traces’ Copyright © Constantinos Andronis, 2015.