Imaginary Dresser

She insisted that I go out there
where she knew she had left
her cigarettes and lighter
I could not convince her
that her dresser was not there
and at her insistence
went out to look

She was pink and fragile
with a cream colored knit cap
where her hair had been
covering the place where they
had removed the tumor

I thought she would come back
after that
and she did partly
but continued to "know"
things that were
of a different world
and went on smoking
through a plastic filter
that was supposed to help her
stop smoking
but never did

Anne Bach