The Corral, 1999 Page: 24
This periodical is part of the collection entitled: Corral and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hardin-Simmons University Library.
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The Couple at 1833 Anderson
Almost as though it were stretched
over a shrunken earth, our kitchen floor
falls at every corner like a tile dome.
While the washing machine dances
to a spin cycle rhythm and the microwave
bears scalding ramen noodles gathering
unevenly to one side of the bowl (always
tipping and burning), we make do.
I often stare and wonder who might win
if all our spiders took arms against the beetles.
I can't be certain what they call the paint on our walls,
but it's not good cover if you're a beetle or a spider.
Still, a dark bug darting about a white wall
is a match right out of Better Homes and Gardens
when you have deep gray and purple office carpet.
The ends of my mouth steal upward as I wonder
if our guests expect a fax machine where the toaster
should be. They don't know the smiling secrets
we've shared over humming air conditioners or
the floor's groans or which clock knows the real time.
It's when I turn the key and the deadbolt gives a faint
thud, and I remember that our paint is called "Parchment,"
that I grin at all the charming quirks and marvel at
a lover so familiar, a friend so hard to forget.
Nathan Maxwell24
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Hardin-Simmons University. The Corral, 1999, periodical, 1999; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth109488/m1/26/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.