Structure & Surprise

Had the ace of spades fallen on the flop

Instead of the turn, and if the feather was still on the wing

Instead of the slushy gutter,

Perhaps even if the bubbles tickling my nose

Were champagne or pop instead of the last gasp of oxygen

In the tank,

Had it been warm so that the squirrels could have introduced us,

Or if my heart hadn’t been made of plaster,

And also maybe if old dirt roads were more forgiving

In their turns,

If I ran vertical instead of horizontal,

It might have changed that you were never

The chorus, only the prelude—

Maybe the wires were faulty, or else

It was the wrong mirror completely.

–Monica Piotrowski