THE NEW APARTMENT

We had no trouble finding it.
The door was unlocked so we walked right in.

The outdoor staircase was beautiful.
We both loved the view of the Hudson River.

You would be busy with something else in the morning.
I took care of all the paperwork.

Even after I was awake for a long time, I did not stop to think
that we had decided on this apartment in a dream.

I HESITATED BEFORE THE MYSTERY OF YOUR ABSENCE

There was no warning in the mirror.

The world had halted.

Alexander’s famous horse began to dance.

My hands were full of grapes. Servants surrounded

me, carrying platters of snow from the Caucasus.

Alarm bells rang, gendarmes came running. The hour

was late. I lit a cigarette. You appeared before my eyes. 

FOUNDATION

you almost choked on that wild golden

apple we found on a tree next to a field

growing out of the foundation of what

had once been a farmhouse overlooking a valley

a hundred and fifty miles from here

Michael Cooney has published poetry in Badlands, Second Chance Lit, Bitter Oleander, Big Windows Review and other journals. His short stories have appeared recently in Sundial Magazine, Bandit Fiction, Wilderness House Literary Review and Cerasus Drunk Monkeys and his novella “The Witch Girl & The Wobbly” was published by Running Wild Press in 2021. A second novella, “A Good Catholic Girl,” was published in 2023 by ELJ Editions. Michael has taught in public high schools and community colleges and currently facilitates a writing workshop with the New York Writers Coalition.