One Poem
by Nathan Blansett
Sicily
Mid-July, out of thin air,
he texted me and asked.
That weekend I went. Trying to see, to pay
attention to the blue water,
as the sun glitched: such intricate
punishment, revenge, as he swam
like a young man and I saw the bald
spot on the back of his head.
Letting him pay for everything,
for here—letting him pay
for my life absolves me
of what? Gives me what?
None of my dreams are about Sicily.
Nathan Blansett’s poems and criticism recently appear in Ploughshares, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Southern Review, American Chordata, and elsewhere. He is the recipient of fellowships and support from the 92Y, Poetry Society of America, the Stadler Center at Bucknell, Emory, and The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. nathanblansett.com