by Jennifer Roche

We’re pouring through the sieve of summer.
Mother and teen son traveling north

to camp drop-off together.
We fold into twin beds

with benign choreography:
Electronics, plugged in.

Brushed teeth?
Double good nights

clipped by the light.
The rightful bricks mason

themselves between us:
I used to admire him in his sleep.

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Jennifer Roche is a poet, writer, and text artist who lives in Chicago. She is Pushcart Prize-nominated and the author of two chapbooks: The Synonym Tables (The Poetry Question, 2021) and 20, erasure poems from Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Alternating Current Press, 2020). Her work has appeared in Storm Cellar, Tule Review, Footnote: A Literary Journal of History, and Oyez Review. She was named a “Writer to Watch in 2019 & Beyond” by the Guild Literary Complex.