This is the underside of the world
delicate and transparent as ice,
as maple leaves red as heat,
the very ones she raked this morning,
the ones strewn all over the yard,
so the made piles rattle
the exact moment
the train goes by, carrying coal
from the mountains eastward.
She turns and goes inside,
sweeps her room in the dark,
hoping for an alchemist,
someone to change lead into gold.
The Cancer Patient Dreams
CHARLOTTE MATTHEWS is Associate Professor at the University of Virginia, where she teaches writing to adult learners. She lives in Crozet, Virginia, with her husband, a dog, and four headstrong chickens.