Bellows by Jaime Rodriguez

"After the Last Note" © Jaime Rodriguez

You lift the accordion.

The strap drags across your chest

where my hand

used to rest.

You don’t move.

Your fingers find the buttons.

I watch your mouth.

Tongue caught

in your teeth.

I stay quiet.

Porque

saying your name

would turn me back

to what I was

when I didn’t stop.

I once pressed

those same buttons.

You kept playing.

The last note thins

There’s a white hair

on your shoulder.

Not yours.

My hand lifts.

You play on.

ABOUT:

Jaime Rodríguez is a Chicano poet from the Rio Grande Valley. His work explores queer masculinity, borderlands, language, memory, and the ecology of South Texas. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Pinch, Permafrost, Stone of Madness, Wild Roof Journal, and wildscape. literary journal, among others.

EDITOR'S SONG PICK: REPERTIO - Mario Batvoic, Clive Dreamer, MXLX