Deanna Dorangrichia, Home Series: IV
I imagine Edith Wharton holding a doily
at the gates of heaven, or maybe she is the doily
in the afterlife. And, Lily Bart is on a fainting couch
having an affair with my wife
while I’m grooming the dog that looks like a cloud
in the shape of a doily. I’m worried that I might
menstruate in heaven because I died before
menopause.
Two women live in an old brick house
with an electric oven and a white dog.
At night they howl at the moon
before it is new again.
The women bake bread and brush the dog
in preparation for their entrance to heaven.
Heaven is an expensive house with fine linens,
creamy butter, and a staff of maids and butlers
who leave coffee stains on the furniture
in the shape of a boot.