“Doris’s petticoat” by James Norcliffe — A Tuesday Feature

Doris’s petticoat

this is a place I have to leave
the faded wallpaper
the deceased framed on the walls
the bad spelling

it’s enough to put
sugar in your gasoline
Doris said
and I agreed

they’d built a Mediterranean garden to catch the sun
forgetting that each night the shadows come
and the olive trees clump stump-footed into blackness
the pencil cypresses point accusingly
the lemons get increasingly bitter

wouldn’t it make your tendrils twitch?
said Doris

but I disagreed
my tendrils had long...