Sometime in the night, the tide swept in to the basement. Seaweed pushing through
the foundation. Pebbles by the washing machine. I wake up softer for the intrusion.
I intended to be stoically academic about this. Let’s call it The Worst Thing I Ever Did. I keep getting lost,
pupils dilated. That one afternoon, the window’s light brilliant and burning.
I’d call it The Worst Thing I Ever Did To Survive with enough practice
but I am too busy drowning. Three times my husband calls me by name. Forgive me.
There was a bookshelf. A desk, a computer. I have ceased to be here. Forgive me.
The bleaching sun rising over every kindness I have since attempted. Forgive the long silence
and how I now try to break it. Forgive the book. Forgive this morning, when I do not pick it up.
Catherine Weiss is a poet and artist living in Maine. Their work has been published in Tinderbox, Up the Staircase Quarterly, Counterclock, Hobart After Dark, and elsewhere. Their debut full-length collection “Wolf Girls vs. Horse Girls” (Game Over Books) was released in 2021. More at catherineweiss.com.