First, I could not hear you
over the woman sounding like the closing of a door.
Secondly, the angles in this
room are tiny doors.
Third, I refuse to speak to you
of the doors you knock.
When I would not let you in, it’s because, fourth,
I was full, my feet upon the threshold of a door.
i.
Jos Charles
Jos Charles is author of a Year & other poems and feeld (Milkweed Editions)—a Pulitzer Prize finalist and winner of the National Poetry Series—and Safe Space (Ahsahta Press). She resides in Long Beach, California, with her best friend and cat.