David Salner: “Falling”
FALLING
Beyond the plate glass of this thrift store
a pelt of rain drifts off down the coast
leaving puddles that shimmer on hot asphalt
beneath a sunset of meandering clouds
over rooftops. I try on a pair of dress shoes,
a comfort to wear, even after the toes curl up
and heels wear down on one side, so I’d fall
into you as we walk. What’s walking, Twain said,
but a fall that you catch. And maybe a hand
to cradle an old man’s elbow, a nest after flight,
and an offer to guide him back to his house.
A fall with a catch and a gasp that we hide,
like the glimpse of a death we all know
but know not much about. All I know is my falling
for you led to year after year of falls into you.
And the dress shoes I made up my mind to buy
are like new when daubed with a peppery polish
and brushed to a shine by a good flannel cloth.
David Salner’s novel, A Place to Hide, won first place for historical fiction from Next Generation Indie Book Awards. His fourth poetry collection is The Stillness of Certain Valleys. His poetry appears in Threepenny Review, Iowa Review, and Ploughshares. Salner has worked as an iron ore miner, a steelworker, and in many other trades.