Poem for Monday and Autumny Alki

Forecast
By Camille Rankine

I twist myself into a knot
the day pulls taut.

I am what I am
told. Good red meat

gone necrotic. A spot of black
spread out to ruin

a perfect evening. It’s the way
the weather wears me.

A cold, blank day. My blood-
burned fingers. A white noise

swelling in me. It’s nothing
but night now. That’s how

all the days end. An hour
glistens in its glass case, turns

rancid in my memory.
Another day, another

dress the day lays out
before me. I grow older

if I’m lucky.
And I’m lucky.

My sad heart in its excess.
Such petty injury. I am worn

against the weather. Limp and prone
to empty.

What came before this.
I can’t remember.

I dress for all the lives I want
behind me. I have come here

to make seen the day
I see. I fall from focus.

The day goes sour. It asks me
nothing. It asks nothing of me.

-------- 

I had a bunch of chores to do on Monday -- laundry, cat stuff, hooks for hats -- so I got that done while was on calls. We had a late lunch and went for a walk to the park, then we came home for the Orioles game, which was so crazy that we left it on during dinner. 

And they won, on a 3-run homer in the 9th, so the game even ended early enough for us to watch The Flash, which despite a very long list of problematic aspects was a lot more fun than I was expecting. (The MCU What If Doctor Strange episode covered the same story in half an hour.) 

We missed Monday Night Football, though I'm told that means we also missed a horrific injury. Here are some photos from around Alki on Saturday, where in addition to the beach and tidepools we got to see all the beautiful autumn gardens and views of the waterfront from around the point: