Instructions

[Philatone]

V. 2(thanks to billy, cider, todd)

instructions

Per your request, we bagged the blouses,
everything else collected on the landing
in the shadow of a banister learned by hand--
bookshelves folded into broken wings,
plates in plastic mingled with Lladrós,

Spanish for porcelain dancers
spoiled behind panes of glass.
Until we take it upon ourselves
to adopt their waltzes on our table top,
the perpetual billows of their skirts,

their stage waits in cardboard
sealed off with tape and labels,
'This side up' and 'Fragile'
the only instructions for packing
someone else's boxes once she's left.


V. 1

Per your instructions, we switched titles to the car,
blouses stripped from closet hangers for Goodwill,

fridge and freezer emptied
with every other condo shelf.

Where are the instructions for packing someone
else's boxes once she has left?

Plates in plastic wrapping mingle with lladrós,
Spanish for porcelain dancers paid to watch

from behind thin panes of glass, now without a job.
Unless we take it upon ourselves

to adopt their waltzes on our table top,
the perpetual billows of skirts,

their stage will be cardboard
felt through the darkness of a closed lid

sealed off with tape and labels.
'This side up' and 'Fragile'.