Angle of Incidence
The windows on the long side of the railroad flat
looked out across the airshaft to those
of the next door apartment. Once she found him
sitting in the dark waiting for something
to start, as if what happened in that theater
was real and all the rest—groceries in bags
on the painted floor, the mail unopened
on the sofa—was not. He gestured to her
as a hand, braceleted and slender, raised
a white muslin shade with the circle pull,
then set out candles and silver for dinner.
And she fell down beside him, traveling
her hand up the inseam of his pants
and unbuttoning her blouse—he, watching
the other side of the glass, and she imagining
the diners across the way, unaware of what
her dark world concealed, a woman on her
knees, long hair down her naked back.
Diane Kirsten Martin's work has appeared in Field, Poetry Daily, New England Review, Crazyhorse, Zyzzyva , Hayden’s Ferry Review, Bellingham Review, Third Coast, North American Review, 32 Poems, Tar River Review, CutBank, and Nimrod, among others. She was awarded second place in the Nimrod/Hardman Pablo Neruda Prize competition, judged by B.H. Fairchild, in 2004. She was nominated for and included in Best New Poets 2005. In 2006, she was semifinalist in the “Discovery”/ The Nation competition. She lives in San Francisco and works as a technical writer and editor. Visit her website here. (dianekmartin@sbcglobal.net)