Poetry

Outtakes

by
Howard Good

The dog shakes its head as if to clear a bad thought
I'm lost in the misleading evidence of familiar gestures
the woman on the bed naming the five stages of grief
anger denial bargaining reaches casually behind
undoing her bra a sudden sharp smell of upturned earth
and so much else smudged spiderwebbed with cracks
a stranger passed in the parking lot blue-black stubble
exchanges glances with me as if it were a signal
the night thickens like smoke and I wonder
not for the first time in the movie of my life who plays me

Howard Good, who teaches journalism at SUNY New Paltz, has published poetry in 2River View, Stirring, Wilmington Blues, Conspire, Midstream, and other e-zines and journals. His latest book is Educated Guess: A School Board Member Reflects (ScarecrowEducation, 2003).