Bill Christophersen

Tom, Debra and I are sitting down to the
meal she’s cooked when, she, a Lutheran
minister, remembers Mr. Breuer next door
in 2A. He lost his wife two weeks ago

I
When the toddler disappeared (the septic tank’s
countersunk manhole cover not quite centered
and so become a revolving door), the May

The cold grows colder, even as the days
grow longer, February's mercury vapor light
buffing but not defrosting the bone-white
ground, crusty and treacherous underfoot.