You pack with order and method
folding each item neatly
I throw mostly bags in my suitcase
empty bags.
On the table, a green glass
breaks light in all directions.
Before we go, we must record
our Duet Cantabile in a church
across the street. I point up.
Gargoyle, you say, a guttural
gargle. Voices in unison,
we climb in pitch until we reach
that final note, high and pure
like a seventh wave
but it’s flat. We’re laughing.
We must leave. Or start over.
–
Swedish-born Gunilla Theander Kester is an award-winning poet and the author of If I Were More Like Myself (The Writer’s Den, 2015). Her two poetry chapbooks: Mysteries I-XXIII (2011) and Time of Sand and Teeth (2009) were published by Finishing Line Press. She was co-editor with Gary Earl Ross of The Still Empty Chair: More Writings Inspired by Flight 3407 (2011) and The Empty Chair: Love and Loss in the Wake of Flight 3407 (2010). Dr. Kester has published many poems in Swedish anthologies and magazines, including Bonniers Litterära Magasin. Her work has appeared or will be published in On the Seawall, Cider Press, The American Journal of Poetry, Pendemics, and Atlanta Review. She lives near Buffalo, NY, where she teaches classical guitar.