by Tricia Gates Brown
Opposites
I hand you the book like evidence; this
time, Heaney. “That’s good,” you say
(your face, your voice—so sexy, I think).
Our resonance.
Like when we share good coffee
or ponder who killed whom on a Scottish island
on holiday
in a fish house
with a meat cleaver.
Yet also loudly evident, our dissonance.
Like when the door of our tilted fridge
slams the cabinet followed by Fuck!
Bang! Fuck!
Testosterone, your alibi.
My curses, sotta voce.
Or the hem of your pants
crimped and upturned at the ankles
long after boots removed.
Ole fuddy-duddy, I call you.
You laugh and take no offense,
call me fussy.
Mystified, more like.
At how you reckon water
an affront, when I need seal-like submersion;
how you don’t notice
sight smell taste sound
(your own phone ringing in your pocket)
when spectrums of sensation assault me.
‘Complimentary’ is good spin.
Other days, ‘mismatched.’
‘Cosmic order,’ you offer,
mocking my tendency to see
beyond the surface.
Anniversary of a First Marriage
Every October, a bride carefully tucks
fear into the tops of lace stockings,
smooths the satin of her dress, and
boards a shiny, black ride to hour zero.
Every October, she laughs through perfect
red lipstick, waves a confident hand
to true believers, who mistake
the rising smoke for temple fire.
Every October, work forgets to call.
The groom rises each day to trade
his dreams for a sponge and damp mop,
his spirit for canned goods, white bread.
Every October, the bride cracks new
books, raises a hand one last time
before wintering, before boarding up
the windows of her mind.
Every October, silences twist into knots,
invisible lines get drawn and
redrawn, on the floor, on the bed,
through vows that were said, every October.
Tricia Gates Brown works as an editor in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Her poetry has appeared in Timberline Review, The Bayou Review, and Opol Magazine, and her first poetry collection, Of A Certain Age, was published by Fernwood Press in mid-2026. Her debut novel Wren won a 2022 IPPY Award, and her second novel will be released in July 2027.
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