One without the Other​

Issue 18

One of us will be first
and the other will know
a canvas of silence
and the purpose of it
and its thin cover
 
like a sheet over a door
or an empty chair. 
One of us will argue
with the light 
and what the windows see
each room hollow in itself.
 
Our house is an unlikely guide
but sure of its sound
so the words one of us will say
are near enough
for the other to hear.

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JOSEPH TETRO lived in Alaska for several years, receiving his MFA from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. His work has appeared recently in Kelp Journal, Raven Review, Phil Lit, and elsewhere. He co-manages Winter Light Books, which works with Ukrainian artists to publish children's books based on folktales from Ukraine.
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