Refusal

by Lilah Hegnauer

Take away the hinge, its hidden polish.
Take away the orange rind—

I’ll chew it.
No violins, no Bach, no way.

Take away the argument.
You’ll always win.

I’ll always tell myself
I let you.

All the gypsum,
all the kiln-glow of cobalt,

flares against my joy.

Take away the documents.
I’ve seen cream
whipped stiff for a tart.

You know what I mean.

Take away the cheap suits and
heavy tables, polished citrus dark.

 

Lilah Hegnauer’s Dark Under Kiganda Stars (Ausable Press, 2005) received honorable mention for the 2007 Library of Virginia Literary Award. She holds an MFA from the University of Virginia, and her poems have been published in The Kenyon Review, The Saint Ann’s Review, Orion, The Drunken Boat, and So to Speak. She is the recipient of an Astraea Lesbian Writers Grant and lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. (4/2008)