Six Feet
by Dotty LeMieux
The length of my dog’s leash. Meeting another,
twelve feet between wary humans,
dogs sniff nose to nose.
Longing.
How tall my father was, or so he said, but
you couldn’t always trust
everything he said.
Ask mom.
The width of a cell in San Quentin Prison,
not counting men stacked in bunks
stale air, no phone call.
No defense.
The distance between two not-yet-lovers, masked
strangers, no touch but eyes
no hands, no mouths.
Alone together.
The depth of the average grave, except in genocides,
war, and pandemics like this one
when you have to share.
Don’t die.
The width of my queen size mattress, enough
for two, most nights. Sometimes
I want it all for myself.
Tonight you stay.
Image by Stuart Buck is a visual artist and award-winning poet living in North Wales. His art has been featured in several journals, as well as gracing the covers of several books. His third poetry collection, Portrait of a Man on Fire, is forthcoming from Rhythm & Bones Press in November 2020. He is the art editor for kanstellation magazine and available for commissions all year round. He can be contacted via Twitter or E-Mail
Dotty LeMieux‘s work has appeared or is forthcoming in publications such as Rise Up Review, Writers Resist, Beautiful Cadaver Social Anthologies series, Poets Reading the News, Gyroscope and Solo Novo. I have had three chapbooks published and one in progress from Finishing Line Press. In the 1980’s, I edited the eclectic literary magazine, Turkey Buzzard Review, in Bolinas California.
