At first thunder the cockroach retreats behind
a loose tile, its appendages still.
The deluge dissolves into blue turrets of the mosque.
A fourth call to prayer—rain or shine, rain or shine.
This portrait I will never finish is called Man Sewing Pants. Sitting
cross-legged with fingers at work, skin painted gold.
When the storm ceases, the ice cream man rings his bell.
Anastassia Pugatch is an MFA candidate studying poetry at George Mason. She recently returned to the states after teaching English in China and Thailand. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Skidmore, and a Master’s degree in “Language & Literacy” from Harvard. Her work was recently featured in The Esthetic Apostle, and her poems are forthcoming in Thin Air Magazine and Remington Review.
Appears In
Cagibi Issue 5
