We Smile Back

The lamps in our life
gaslight our eyes

until we walk out the screen door
to welcome autumn moonlight

into the sweep of our sight
gazing upon the same lunar guide

as our ancestors of old
who draped themselves in animal skin

to survive a Quebec winter
with the promise of an April petal

blooming like the baby bruise I wailed over
when I slipped out of your hands.

I stand beside you now
under a waxing smile

where we smile back
into a singing cicada night.

 

Keith Mark Gaboury earned a M.F.A. in creative writing from Emerson College. His poems have appeared in such publications as Poetry Quarterly and New Millennium Writings along with chapbooks from Duck Lake Books and The Pedestrian Press. Keith lives in Oakland, California.

Poet/Photographer Jennifer Matthews’ poetry has been published in Nepal by Pen Himalaya and locally by the Wilderness Retreat Writers Organization, Midway Journal, The Somerville Times, Ibbetson Street Press and Boston Girl Guide. Jennifer was nominated for a poetry award by the Cambridge Arts Council for her book of Poetry Fairy Tales and Misdemeanors. Her songs have been released nationally and internationally and her photography has been used as covers for a number of Ibbetson Street Press poetry books and has been exhibited at The Middle East Restaurant, 1369 Coffeehouses, Sound Bites Restaurant in Somerville and McLean Hospital.