One Morning

you wake to find you can't move your tongue, can't
decide what you're supposed to do when you wake
up. And so you just lie there watching sunlight
lengthen across the bedroom floor, listening to the
radio chatter out the news, wondering who you've
been, who you might be. After an hour, you get up,
open a closet of women's clothes, shoes, and
perfumed dresses. You step in there a moment and
breathe deeply, trying to remember. You are naked.
Do you live alone? Outside looks blurry, too bright,
an unfocused photograph of someplace you almost
remember. And when the phone rings, you pick it up
and try to say hello. Someone far away says mom,
says mom, says mother, where have you been? You
put the receiver down without hanging it up and
then you dress slowly, running your hands across
your body, humming softly. Later, you step out into
the blurry summer afternoon and walk briskly, eyes
focused on the ground.