Ellen Kombiyil
In The Old Apartment Before Language Fully
Bloomed, The Landlord Tried To Evict Us
The skeleton key
lost, mismatched
furniture hauled
to the truck, Ma
hollerin I’m ready
to be done with this place,
re-tracing her pacing
worn through blue
linoleum. Ma,
don’t fret. The landlord
won’t give it back:
each cupboard scratch
each picture frame
nail hole she’ll ding you for
until the deposit’s gone.
What was it, Ma
you expected to become?
Traipsing down hall steps,
careening, plaster
to wood banister foot over
ankle a little violently
& startling in the near dark.
Ellen Kombiyil is the author of Histories of the Future Perfect and a micro chapbook Avalanche Tunnel. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in New Ohio Review, Nimrod, North American Review, and Ploughshares. She currently teaches creative writing at Hunter College.