Instruments

July dusk, plates

uncleared. Bits of wine

cling to the crystal.

A suit jacket hangs

from an antique

chair. No one there

but the chimes

diminishing

down the hall.

It drapes enough

to be a dress,

or a robe, askew.

Heaviness

in the left breast: 

thick brass keyring

splays in hand,

beveled edges guard

a wedding band

unworn. Astrolabe

or anchor? Clutched,

it sought the earth.

Recalled years on

it maps the sky,

pinned to drift.

V. Joshua Adams is the author of a chapbook, Cold Affections (Plan B Press, 2018). Work of his has appeared or is forthcoming in Funicular, Painted Bride Quarterly, Mud Season Review, Jet Fuel Review, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. A former editor of Chicago Review, he teaches literature and writing at the University of Louisville.