That Once, That We

Who has accepted my challenge? They gathered to dedicate the new bell and almost immediately fell into coughing fits. A funeral, conducted with sufficient gravity, in the shadow of a familiar maple.

I once had a similar fondness for rabbits, sir. She pushed her wet hair back. What's that?

An autumn job left undone will rankle all winter. One after another the chipmunks were disemboweled by the neighbor's cat. Coffee stains standing in for decades.

But it really did happen that way! A ladder fell, a neck broke. Day after day after day.

Rewrite this. A long walk in somber light, contemplating new spellings. They sipped whiskey naked, never allowing themselves to kiss.

Or for a better setting! In this case, it's the timing, or should I say pacing. My ribcage folded like a broken accordion.

I never write to you anymore in the present. But hold a thought, always dreaming, of that once, that we.