Paired: Krum + Paley

New York (Peony) by Gregory Krum

One Day

One day
one of us
will be lost
to the other
 
this has been
talked about but
lightly   turning
away   shyness   this
business of con-
fronting the
preference for
survival

            my mother said   the
            children are grown   we
            are both so sick   let us
            die together   my father
            replied    no no   you
            will be well    he lied
 
of course I
want you in the world
whether I’m in it or
not   your spirit
I probably mean
 
there is always
something to say   in
the end   speaking
without breath   one
of us will be lost
to the other

— Grace Paley