Adam Clay

The Bar in Fayetteville Where All the Moms Now Drink

There was a thread I followed
in the quiet of the early aughts
thinking that a proximity to death
could illuminate something
about art I couldn’t understand
otherwise. Perhaps I wanted to fix
what wasn’t broken or wanted to break
what didn’t need repair. I didn’t
know at the time why the cemetery
felt so pristine. I didn’t know
why darkness was the only distance
my eyes could adjust to. Now I see
mothers in the late afternoon light
sitting at the same tables we once
haunted. Even now, I can see Matt
shooting pool, looking like a muscle
of trouble that could never unravel
no matter how hard one might pull.

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Adam Clay (he/him) is the author of Circle Back (Milkweed Editions, 2024). He teaches at Louisiana State University and edits Autocorrect.