Wednesday, August 1, 2012

incondite

incondite\ in-KON-dit \ , adjective;

1. Ill-constructed; unpolished: incondite prose.
2. Crude; rough; unmannerly.



Innocent, inconstant combat: a friend
follows a blood trail through her kitchen
a torn orange peel on the counter
a closet door ajar, ominous.
I picture this at a table while my family plays cards
holding at least twelve in my hand.
I fiddle with the corners as if petting the feathers
of a bird, only these ones click and they could never 
take flight. They would fall to the floor, splay
and flip and the jumble of colors and numbers 
would no longer make sense. Can you imagine 
such a thing? Your clothes lain across your bed, wondering
if their fingers had touched them, had they 
put them to their faces and breathed
as if the clean scent could act as chloroform
wanting at last to drift into a peaceful sleep,
pretend for a few unconscious moments that such a bed
could be theirs, such a home, like when they were children
who could go outside, leave their lawn without
snagging their skin on crude spirals of barbed wire,
and the dog at their heels was their dog and the sound 
of their mother calling them home was sweet.