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In Absentia and Let’s Pretend – 2 Poems

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Kim GoldbergBy Kim Goldberg – Patient

In Absentia

In the Pandemic the phone never rings
all the bushtits are off the hook
counting the holes in the sky
where each cloud used to be
they say this is for the best
we will save the greatest number
of genitive endings this way
the elderly skilsaws are not allowed
beyond the fourth floor of the bakery
for that is where the puff pastry is made
each night and all the neighborhood dogs
barked at once

Let’s Pretend

Let’s pretend we are in the Before time
When we clustered like lemurs at the bakery
Tasting each other’s tarts and meringue
Let’s pretend we are in the Before time
For this game we must use our pataphysical minds
I can tongue your éclair with some fakery
Let’s pretend we are in the Before time
And cluster like lemurs at the bakery


Kim Goldberg is the author of eight books of poetry and nonfiction. Her latest book Devolution (surreal poems and fables) was released by Caitlin Press this year. Kim was diagnosed with CLL in 2016 and is currently on treatment. She spends her days wandering, writing, bird-watching, and refurbishing her vintage coal-miner’s cottage in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Twitter: @KimPigSquash. Devolution: https://caitlin-press.com/our-books/devolution/

 

Originally published in The CLL Society Tribune Q2 2020.