He Married Me Dying, Then His Lawyer Opened the Box

down the middle.

At two in the morning I made tea I didn’t drink.

At three I carried the whole box into my bedroom and set it on the quilt beside me like a sleeping animal that might bite.

By dawn I’d decided one thing.

I was not burning them.

The Porch At Seven-Thirty

Three days later I went back to Alder Street with a lawn chair cushion under my arm and continue reading …