#MIDDLEBURY
from “Please Bury Me in This”
Allison Benis White
Now my neighbor through the wall playing piano, I imagine, with her eyes closed.
When she stops playing, she disappears.
I am still waiting for the right words to explain myself to you.
When there was nothing left to smoke, I drew on my lips with a pen until they were
black.
Or is this what it means to be empty: to make no sound?
I pressed my mouth to the wall until I’d made a small gray ring.
Or maybe emptiness is a form of listening.
Maybe I am just listening.
About this poem
“This is a poem from my forthcoming collection, a book-length series, ‘Please Bury Me in This,’ forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2017. Beyond my piano-playing neighbor, who has since moved and been replaced by two quiet brothers, I don’t remember writing this poem at all (usually a good sign). Although I do remember the late C.D. Wright’s words, ‘Follow the lights in your own skull.'” – Allison Benis White
About Allison Benis White
Allison Benis White is the author of “Please Bury Me in This,” forthcoming from Four Way Books in 2017. She teaches at the University of California, Riverside, and lives in Irvine, Calif.
The Academy of American Poets is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization, whose aim is to make poetry available to a wider audience. Email The Academy at poem-a-day@poets.org.
(c) 2016 Allison Benis White. Originally published in Poem-a-Day, www.poets.org. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
