When she brings her melancholy close to me...

SELF-PORTRAIT

BY CHASE TWICHELL

I know I promised to stop

talking about her,

but I was talking to myself.

The truth is, she’s a child

who stopped growing,

so I’ve always allowed her

to tag along, and when she brings

her melancholy close to me

I comfort her. Naturally

you’re curious; you want to know

how she became a gnarled branch

veiled in diminutive blooms.

But I’ve told you all I know.

I was sure she had secrets,

but she had no secrets.

I had to tell her mine.

 

 
Chase Twichell, "Self Portrait" from Dog Language (Copper Canyon Press, 2005). www.coppercanyonpress.org