• Poetry

    I Promise Not to Behave by Sharon Mesmer

                     — after and for Lydia Tomkiw (US, 1959 — 2007)

    You slip your purple glitter turban on,
    Spread my tarot cards on the table and whisper:
    “I see a fever has crawled into you.”
    I roll my eyes:
    “Scarlet? Or yellow?”
    You squint through the velvety knots of your lashes:
    “Too early to tell.”
    “What kind of an answer is that?” I demand.
    “I don’t know,” you sneer,
    “How many kinds are there?”

    We’re in your parents’ kitchen on Oakley.