Poems of Hope Contest: Ajar, Carla Sarett

Carla Sarett writes poetry, fiction and, occasionally, essays; and has been nominated for the Pushcart, Best American Essays, Best Microfictions and Best of Net. She has published one full-length collection, She Has Visions (Main Street Rag, 2022) and two chapbooks. Carla has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and is based in San Francisco.

Ajar

Once, dying bees fell on me as I slept naked.

I woke to a blanket of failing wings.

That is true although other things are not.

 

For example, I cannot say if the stray cats

who wandered through our house at night

are a memory or a memory

 

of a dream as vivid as John Wayne

talking to his wife's grave,

in the orange twilight.

 

I cannot say if wildness is escaping

through every open space, or if it is lying in wait

like the seagulls I imagine flying over my bed

 

if I forget what I am supposed to do

with all of this living and dying

and everything in between.

 

So I might as well start at the moment

I leave the door ever

so slightly ajar.