otherlings
what is this? shadow
without a counterpart
riding the world
unattached
it slips down the sidewalk
to the gutter
like it belongs
kicks at a bit of curb
wraith-creature
mama ghost being
thing without
its thing
I’m thinking
it has come
here to collect
a someone, or maybe even
to snatch up me
(after it fell across my foot
on west 59th street
I became suspicious)
it has to have
a tether – right?
(as if I wouldn’t notice –)
like that time
I saw the bathroom mirror
reflecting the empty shower
behind it
in a place it had no right
to peer
otherlings are waiting for us
make no mistake
they bend the rules
the way you might
step across the street
before the light has turned
or snuck a supermarket grape
they are the things outside
the rules of the game
and they want in
I tell you
I’ve seen it
I have felt it
they want a share
in the world, they want a
piece of living
move your foot
kick up your heels walk fast if they come for you
grab a door handle
drink
water
ask your friends
to meet you
somewhere for lunch
stay in the known world
as best you can
drive fast
through night forests
don’t stop often
just go
hand it over
those things
outside the edges
marginalia flowers hands I’m drawing
little lines that defy
the borders
& suddenly become
critters with faces
smaller than gnomes
larger than insects
I’m drawing
these things
pen and ink
outside of paragraphs
outside of text country
the land of print
they shouldn’t bother anyone
really, unless
you ask the question:
where did they come from?
I know I do not know them.
They appeared on the page
as if I had put them there
with intent but clearly
these tiny monsters
are drawing me
somehow, despite the facts
here.
I have not been
particularly porous
lately yet they’ve gotten in
I’m looking for the exit ramp
If you see it, honk twice
I’m putting these gel pens away
shutting the book
leaving these margin
creatures outside the margins
in the flat country
of these pages
open this book
at your own risk
truly
Elizabeth Cohen is a poet from New Mexico and the author of six books of poetry, including the forthcoming Martini Tattoo (Alien Buddha Press), available in the fall of 2022. She holds an MFA from Columbia University.