Song

Rings and strings
What use have I for these things?
Bells and carousels
I'd just be fooling myself . . .

The rest of life pales in significance
I'm looking for somebody with whom to dance

From "With Whom to Dance?," by Magnetic Fields

strum

In another room
head tilted his face
a blur of brightness
beneath the hanging light
he does not look up
at the hush of her slippers on the floor;
she squints to see
his mouth squeezed round
but only imagines
its shape beyond the light's
glare. When she closes
her eyes
she sees it
like a red thumbprint
behind her lid
tries to see more
than this fierce halo
finally fading as she
imagines him sitting
beside her
absent-mindedly
brushing
her ankle
with the backs of his fingers
as if strumming
a guitar.