Cross Country, by Michael Minassian

Cross Country
by Michael Minassian

The postcards arrived week after week
each one from a different state

and signed with a different name:
Ramona, Lady Jane, Angel, Miranda;

all of them written in your lazy scrawl
leaning to the right like trees in the wind

two burning eyes drawn above
my name written in red ink.

Later one night, I hear a noise
outside my window

as if someone rearranged
the furniture of the wind;

perhaps it is you
sharpening your dreams

or the ghost of lost words
preparing for your return.

Process notes: The poem was inspired by a series of anonymous letters I received after graduating college many years ago.

Michael Minassian is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online magazine. His chapbooks include poetry: The Arboriculturist (2010) and photography: Around the Bend (2017). For more information: https://michaelminassian.com