Like the rain
Like the purr of the furnace
Like the half-empty laundry basket and the yellowing lamp glow of the house
across the street
Like the sure flight of a small bird
Like the calligraphy behind your eyelids. The promise of onions frying
Like a man walking the dog (or the dog walking a man)
Like the sacred space just before sunrise
Like a picture frame but without the picture
Like a neighborhood and like the same neighborhood a heartbeat later
Like happiness, but not quite
Like sadness, too
Like a blue door
The morning you gave up caring.
Kurt Olsson’s poems have appeared in a wide variety of publications, including Poetry, The Threepenny Review, and Southern Review. He’s published two poetry collections, Burning Down Disneyland (Gunpowder Press) and What Kills What Kills Us (Silverfish Review Press). A third collection, The Unnumbered Anniversaries, is due out next year.