Adrienne Gruber - fifteenth conversation with an angel

tired where the world stops spinning and sometimes sometimes, well maybe
       only once
       and a while
an angel in the soup pulls her head up, floats her body into empty space
evaporated by the taste of fresh air
she floats around, does the dishes we left
vacuums hairballs from the cat
watches the fish swim in circles
       but
if only she could leave this house, if only she didn’t stay

i go from room to room
and everywhere i go
she is still standing
when did you decide to live here?

when you brought in your couch, your bed
the kitchen table, the coat rack, tea set for the mantle

when you put up the paintings, set up your bookshelf
studied the laundry machine for the first load

when you ate breakfast standing up
the morning you forgot to set your alarm
I was in and out of rooms
sweeping, shaking rug after rug
dusting the frozen air