Accounting 101
We lived inside our weariness shattered
by the level of force required to drive
a post into the ground the ice having
only now melted it was our town
our inheritance that spent decades expanding
or contracting until it finally settled
until we accepted the settlement
all around us cheerfulness and fences
and locked inside us the promises made
while we slept unrewarded for a certain
duration everything accounted for candles
burning in empty windows our wishes
already spent our bowls of cold soup
empty as we waited for winter to end.
Paul Ilechko is the author of “Post Moby” (Sheila-Na-Gig, 2026) and “Fragmentation and Volta” (Gnashing Teeth, 2025). His work has also appeared in many journals, including The Bennington Review, Bear Review, Atlanta Review, Permafrost, and Laurel Review. He reads for Marrow Magazine.
