Anthony Procopio Ross

The Silence

 
She’s cradling it in her arms, the absence
you both feel necessary. You wonder,
“How long can she hold a silence?” Eventually
it grows too large for her arms and begins
to pace the rooms we share. The silence trips over
an Eden of potted plants placed throughout
the house before pawing at our front door. We feel
its desire to escape. Feel in the ways two do
nurturing an emptiness, one we aim to keep.
We begin ascribing it names, hoping to
better understand our domestic frustrations
by means of fashioning containers for it to live.
“Time” worked for a while before we lost track.
“True love” seemed close, but too similar
to what had already left months ago. “Space”
made us painfully aware of how bare many
of the house’s walls appeared during sunup.
We settled for a lack of label and soon
it took the shape of both our names when said
together, the quiet fall between those two words.

Anthony Procopio Ross graduated with his MFA in poetry @ MNSU, Mankato's creative writing program where he was awarded the 2021-22 Andreas Creative Writing Fellowship. Anthony's poems appear in The McNeese Review, The Laurel Review, Bear Review, Warm Milk Magazine, and others. Currently, Anthony teaches writing at Park University and Johnson County Community College. He loves skipping flat stones across mooned lakes and serving as the editor of poetry at deadpeasant, a countercultural journal of arts & writing.