Rae’s Mask

Your advice was good; you tried to take it.
You tried remaking the house he left.
Choosing among Walnut, Ebony, Natural Wood.
Choosing among Orb, Cannonball, Hammered Sphere.

What shape the world just before the light?
The ghost of love just passing through, passing through
the brown boxes full of housewares. (Was he housewary?)
It’s work every goddamn day you told me,

even with his pants down and the ghost lips still sucking.
The walls were sound, they could sand away—
on went the mask—and more choices: China Ash, Ivory Pallor,
Navajo Parchment. New resolutions stuck

between old coats: Make time for your self-
preservation. Find new words for fuck.