History of a Slip

Other Side of Distance 22

Along the ridges

of the inch long

Appalachian mountains

there are marks of the slips

from the sides of the cliffs

where feet and hands

couldn’t hold on

and their tracks turned into tears

which slipped down cheeks

when those back on the coast

heard about the fall.

And upon acknowledging the slip

the knitters and fabric-savvy set about

making scarves

to hide the places where kisses

once fell

and in the place of those lips

were put paisleys.