minnesota writing project
center for writing
mwp.umn.edu

Elizabeth Barniskis

Red, White, and Blue

A heavy midday yellow settles
over these days of your life,
-repeated/replayed-
and you patiently exhale.

Your string of untold stories,
still restless and young,
disappear into strands of smoke
and you patiently exhale.

A pearl white Winston tips ash
guiding light lit hourly.
Tomorrow’s stories tug at your hem.

As the world turns, so do stitched threads
on high heat;
folded fabrics put away (again) and
stained linen- blotted claret- washes away white.

Stale gray sediment, adrift in still air
presses into skin, confirmation of this
one life to live.

Beds reassembled, dishes wiped dry.
Drawn curtains block out another world’s blue.