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
