The Wall Said
by Derek Sugamosto
The wall said
“The Cloudy River Gang”
in red;
I’m certain of the color
but the words change when
I look back;
the first two words framed within
an otherwise unspoiled patch of wall,
a patch long preserved
by a newly absent fixture;
“River Gang” was passed over
by the shadow of a bobbing branch;
elsewhere in the same house,
I snap a picture of a shattered pink toilet,
then recline along the floor,
taking in the glue and nails, the joints
and tags that mark the underside
of furniture and cabinets and counters;
I disrupt and rearrange
the floor’s unaccountable grit
with each pivot of perspective;
as I drove away
to the next scheduled location
the windshield was crossed
into a sequence of spaces
that offered the day’s photos
for review; images accurate enough
to recall the negatives
slumbering in my camera
and transparent enough to reveal
the road rushing forward,
ecstatically aligned.
Derek Sugamosto was born and raised in Southeast Michigan. His work has previously appeared in apt, Wisconsin Review, Orange Coast Review, Coe Review, Dogwood, Sheepshead Review, Two Thirds North, Dewpoint, Qua, Paper Nautilus and Sugar House Review.