By Susan Browne

Kenneth’s elbow
have I ever seen it
I mean really looked at it
I’ve been away on a trip &
I would like to see his elbow
& other parts
I miss his smell
sometimes cinnamon & cumin
sometimes dirty socks & popcorn
I used to think love was a coma
my mother was in a coma
from a car accident then gone
my father was in a bottle
stuffed with suicide notes
I met Kenneth a few years after
he was from Denmark
I heard a beat of a noble heart
but also like Hamlet
he said he was going to the bottom of his life
there was nothing more attractive
unfortunately I was in therapy
I said good night sweet prince centuries passed
we met again
was it fate was it chance
did you go to the bottom of your life I asked
yes he said then offered me his arm let’s dance
his arm had blond hairs I felt them like furry
light all over my body
his elbow how important it is
it curved his arm around me
& I woke up for the first time
for all this time

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Susan Browne is the author of the poetry collections Buddha’s Dogs (Four Way Books, 2004), Zephyr (Steel Toe Books, 2010), and Just Living (Catamaran Literary Reader, 2019). Monster Mash is forthcoming from Four Way Books. She lives in Northern California. http://www.susanbrownepoems.com