by Leah Mueller
yet love in any language
gets harder to pronounce
with each passing year.
What is Love in Spanish
“Amor”, as in extra.
Six miles from
the Mexican border,
it often means less—
a luxury for those
who can still afford it,
or don’t mind paying
too much for too little.
I am lucky to share my bed
with someone who is
in no hurry to leave,
yet love in any language
gets harder to pronounce
with each passing year.
My tongue rolls
sideways, whenever
I try to speak the word.
It sticks to my teeth
and the roof of my mouth
like hard taffy.
With enough repetition,
language will
become unnecessary,
but syllables are all I have.
You must listen with care
while I try to remember.
Old Too Late
After six decades,
how did I know so little?
I catch myself in
cellphone photographs,
cheek jowls still firm,
teeth bared, grinning
into the camera,
like my problems were
invisible, nonexistent.
Behind me, a backdrop
of rivers and trees,
endless spider web
of mountain trails
my spine could still navigate.
Meanwhile, a sky dome
hovered above, witnessing
everything I failed to see,
but remaining silent.
I wouldn’t have listened,
anyway. Eyes and ears
tuned to unconsciousness,
I walk the path, turn
my head and pose
while motion continues:
relentless, erasing my body,
blurring its lines like water.
© Leah Mueller
Leah Mueller’s work appears in Rattle, NonBinary Review, Brilliant Flash Fiction, Citron Review, The Spectacle, New Flash Fiction Review, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, etc. She is a 2022 nominee for both Pushcart and Best of the Net. Leah’s flash piece, “Land of Eternal Thirst” appears in the 2022 edition of Best Small Fictions. Her two newest books are “The Failure of Photography” (Garden Party Press, 2023) and “Widow’s Fire” (Alien Buddha Press, 2023).
Find out more on www.leahmueller.org.
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