lucille

michelle m. buchanan
My shirt is tight,
too tight for a warm
day in March,
in NY.

Lucille's entire life was
layed out in rooms
everything priced with
white tape.

People waited in
line to rape her
possessions, grab
what they could.

They found her paintings
in the attic a month before
and galleried them out in
the basement. How could
she have been unknown?

I don't know.

I ran my finger along
the edges of tables
jewelry boxes and
old books.

Somewhere in that house
she was looking through
a hole drilled in the wall,
just an eye shifting back
and forth.

I could hear her laughing
at my shirt. I know I've
outgrown it, Lucille.
I know.

I took a silver necklace,
a bird in flight. For me.
To remember someone I never
knew.

The rest is for sale,
including this shirt.