Faith-Based Option
By Erika Meitner
Don’t take this for granted:
Glue things down.
A computer terminal
crusted with post-it notes
is ephemeral. The translation
could take years, still leave us
baffled, like crop circles, like
UFOs. Just plug
into the flow.
Don’t waste a moment. Speak
as quickly as you can
before you get married
or abducted.
Flag me a cab. Read me
a testimonial
of recovery in the back seat
while Mohammed takes us
west along Division Street.
Remember:
fine-lined tattoos
blur over time.
The skin absorbs ink
as if it’s thirsty.
Your name will smudge.
My name will smudge.
Manage solidly. Start anew.
(Some nights I miss you
more than others—unspeakably,
irreparably, irretrievably.
Last thing
before bed.)
Second-person imperative voice.
Last stanza swerves into confessional 1st person in parentheses.
Paratactic syntax of everyday language.
Context contains a series of commands (10).
Subject matter seems to be about fear of abduction or post-abduction helplessness.
Repetition of –ly adverbs in last stanza provide emphasis.
Ars poetica mimicry in last line “Last thing before bed.”
Internal rhyme in “UFOs” and “flow”; “fine-lined”.
End rhymes in “seat” and “street”; “anew” and “you”; “smudge” repetition
“could” and “as if” indicate conditional mood.
Enjambment in all but six lines.
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