hotel de l’etoile, by Matthew Rohrer

The long thin window to the stars holds up the tenement.

The column is bent in thought. The floor underneath the window

cries out when someone stands there to look out at the night,

unless it is the young girl with her lemons.

She watches for skiffs avoiding the stars.

Her feathered brother is on one knee, calling down to the shore.

In his backpack are three goats. He’s on the lookout

for shipwrecked sailors, who have been seen

checking into other hotels, who have been seen

spending their dark gold on wine without opening their eyes.

From “A Hummock in the Malookas” by Matthew Rohrer. (Norton: $17.95; 74 pp.) 1995 Reprinted by permission.