Confessional
a special darkness
heavy with incense
we wait for the click
the screen, the shadow breathing
he can see in the dark
you might have seen red vestments
pause at the hidden door
beside you
your heavy darkness
speaks of loss, twilight,
your face screened with light
through half open blinds
mine turns away
before I reply
Pediatrician Kelley White has worked in inner city Philadelphia and rural New Hampshire. Her poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Rattle and JAMA. Her recent books are Toxic Environment (Boston Poet Press) and Two Birds in Flame (Beech River Books.) She received a 2008 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant.