The Place Above the River

The house is empty and girls go in.
They drift through hours in the summer.
Across the river, music begins:
Love, it’s summer. The closed homes open.
The docks are decked with lights. But further
the house is empty and girls go in
to light their lovely cigarettes; they listen
closely to the woods. Leaves? A slowing car?
Across the river, music begins
where wives are beautiful still, and thin
(in closets their dresses hang, sheer as scarves)
while the house is empty and the girls go in,
shimmering, to swallow vodka, or gin,
which burn, and to lean from where the windows were.
Across the river, music begins
and will part waves of air. Now. Then.
The season’s criminal, strict and clear.
The house is empty. Girls go in.
Across the river, music begins.

Kate Northrop
The Place Above the River first appeared in 32 Poems, Volume 4, Number 1.