Three Poems by Kate Miano

 

Stay Shored on Cape Cod

August dripping tired gold rays

what’s a moment and when does it change?

Like gasping for air, my dream of lingering

begs for more time, more space.

Our Orleans days sit there like a calendar about to be thrown away.

This island won’t be yours forever.

We’ll call it even if we’re both the leaver.

Before California and dreams fulfilling,

we make a home

for the fireflies, just a jar

it sneaks a pause; contains a star. 

*

Playing Exploding Kittens while we sweat and drank

and smoked whatever.

while some girl

read tarot, some boy

grew unimpressed.

hydrangeas perfumed

the porch;

it matched our

abundance:

Joy and Genius.

we couldn’t tell you

when the sun set

and the stars sprang,

maybe somewhere

between the second

playlist and the first

new introduction.

the frogs peeping

was drowned by us

until we quieted

to secrets.

My porch emptied

with the bluing dawn.

I didn’t notice anything

memorable in that summer

night of many

until today with you, when

we cackled at the mention

of Exploding Kittens.

*

Patina

It’s like powder on a made-up face —

whatever glaze you give a thing to change its state.

mold growing from cheese

stories passed down generations can’t stay pure.

as a child my brother saw a deer in the study

but I recall the first retelling; my mother being there.

It took the Statue of Liberty thirty-four years

to pivot green

and memory moves with that speed.

Like the paint on a Botticelli, varnish aging darker,

or moss over a boulder pointing due North.

In my grandmother’s deep Alzheimer, she tells her childhood again

creating penumbras from old myths or contextual secrets

scunge in a shower lacking bleach.

Pompeii lived for centuries before becoming smothered;

now no amount of excavation

will purify the dust away. 

Time bequeathed me a shield 

to stare down ancient history.

A father and daughter severed into silence

built up over years of resentments.

Now no amount of excavation

will purify the dust away. 

__

Kate Miano (She/Her) is a waitress and writer. She has an English degree from Suffolk University, and has been previously published at magazines such as Venture, Overheard Lit, and Dynamis Journal. She lives in New York City and enjoys yoga, rooftops, and art museums. Kate can be found on Instagram and Twitter: @_katemiano.