On the Sidewalk Outside the House

On the Sidewalk Outside the House Laura Wetherington (bio) In his right hand Fred held a rock he wanted to place in his left pocket. Like a dog chasing his tail he turned round and round, the pitch in his whine climbing. I asked if I could help, then placed the rock in his left hand, which he swiftly stored away. When I told him he'd done it himself, his face shone. Yesterday Fred said I feel grumpy and I'm sad I have no inner life, only inner lists My uterus has become a softball-sized stone, and if I were to bend too far over, that stone would drop fruit, dripping from my abdomen. We are alive still. I have been coughing one month. The wind blows me back on my haunches. My mind is a room and in itthere's a toddler screamingmore apricot End Page 13 Laura Wetherington Laura Wetherington has written two books of poetry: A Map Predetermined and Chance (Fence Books), selected by C.S. Giscombe for the National Poetry Series, and Parallel Resting Places (Free Verse Editions), chosen by Peter Gizzi for the New Measure Poetry Prize. Her essays and book reviews have appeared in The Volta, Hyperallergic, Full Stop, Jacket2, 1508, and in an anthology on the poet Tim Atkins, Nothing on Atkins (Crater Press 2023). Laura works as the poetry editor for Baobab Press and teaches with both the International Writers' Collective and the low-residency MFA Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. Copyright © 2024 Pleiades and Pleiades Press