Hilary King
Investigations
Are you watching your sad detective show
our daughter asks us each evening.
Sad L. A. detective, sad British detective,
sad Swedish detective in gray blue suit
standing in a gray blue field, white-shrouded body
at his feet. We’re knee deep in mysteries right now,
your father and I, these years of work and worry
and wondering if we’ll survive to the next.
What was left behind when we decided on each other,
what late night robberies, what villain with slicked hair
and cigarettes? Can we ransom back our youth
with exercise and eating like birds? Will clues
lead us closer to you, who you will become,
what you do in your room, stuffed animals
with plastic eyes staring mornings when I stand
in your room letting the dust motes interrogate me.
Originally published in MER vol. 22.
Hilary King’s poems have appeared or will appear in Ploughshares, SWWIM, Salamander, TAB, DMQ
Review, Rogue Agent, Fourth River, Freshwater Review, and other publications. Originally from the Blue
Ridge mountains of Virginia, she now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and animals.
She is the author of the book of poems, The Maid’s Car, and an MFA student at San Jose State University.