LOSS [AMBIGUOUS]
….
When you call to the dead, who answers?
Do you call upon space or earth’s deep places?
To the bottom of a well? Or down below the sea?
Are you still her child if she doesn’t remember?
Are you still married if you never found a body?
Do you call the moment of falling ‘apocalypse’ or ‘dust’
or ‘god’? And who sits, waiting, in its empty rooms?
Do you save the voicemail?
How long will you keep waiting?
What did time say to the mall built in the shape of an eye?
Who uses the rooms at Abu Ghraib?
Or who inhabits them now?
What kind of glass would make you feel safest?
And how far from the road should we build?
What do you do with found socks and gloves?
Do you still think about them?
Why did you think everything would be easier?
Why did you go back down into the cave?
Why didn’t you get onto an elevator?
Why did you let them see you that way?
Why don’t you call?
Why do you keep calling?
Do you feel guilty about the prisoners held without bail?
Do you think there’s anything you could do?
What happens when light hits an object?
Has anyone tried to comfort you?
Has anyone asked you to carry anything for them?
Why is the air so quiet this time of year?
Do you hear those crickets?
Why is the sky so clear after a storm?
Is my beloved in your lungs?
Is my beloved in the treads of your shoes?
How much is their life worth, in American dollars?
Where can I find you among the gray clouds?
I mean, where are you?
…..
This poem is from the award-winning chapbook Blood Machine by KB Kinkel “2025 Open Chapbook Competition WINNER” (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/blood-machine-by-kb-kinkel-2025-open-chapbook-competition-winner/
KB Kinkel is a poet, writer, and teacher based in New England. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Ninth Letter,Prelude, The Rumpus, Poetry Online, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and currently teaches English and creative writing (and occasionally, bird-watching) at a small high school. More of KB’s work and projects can be found at kbkinkel.com.
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