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issue24.jpgNo. 24

Lighter in a Window

Matthew Rohrer

What I thought was someone’s lighter
in a window across the courtyard

was lightning—just the beginning
of lightning

then the little girl’s toys
flew across the kitchen

and it was like, forgive me,
death was hammering to get in

when the hailstorm rushed
upon us after it shut down

a televised football game
to the west of us

the breath of autumn’s being
right on top of the roof

like a beast’s breathing down
on the house—I felt

a kinship with the totally ignorant
and the fearful

a desire to run outside

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