Photo of a Beach Far Away by Kenneth P. Gurney

Photo of a Beach Far Away

Kenneth P. Gurney

It arrives with a phone call
Coraline answers
instead of eating dinner
while dinner is hot.

As the chicken pot pie cools
it patiently waits for Coraline
happy to have the spoon for company
and the placemat enjoys being a soft spot
on which the tired ceramic plate may rest.

The ceramic plate is used to this
hurry-up-and-wait Coraline,
this something-else-takes-precedence Coraline.

The cherry wood table
sleeps through the whole episode
preferring to wake during the night
and watch the mice
do their mouse things.

Besides, the cherry wood table
never liked the television across the room:
the television that flashes bad news
throughout the news hour,
which corresponds with the dinner hour,
which directly relates to one
of the scattered hours
that Coraline attends the table.


About the Author

Kenneth P. Gurney lives in Albuquerque, NM, with his beloved Dianne. He emcees the Adobe Walls open mic at Page One Books. His latest book is Curvature of a Fluid Spine. To learn more visit: www.kpgurney.me/Poet/Welcome.html