Richard T. Rauch

Born and raised in the New Orleans area, I live along Bayou Lacombe in southeast Louisiana. I am fortunate to be part of a tenacious team of NASA engineers and scientists dedicated to sending human explorers back to the moon and on to Mars. (Keep your fingers crossed…) Poetry credits include: Burningword, Cape Rock, Confrontation, Crack the Spine, Euphony, Jet Fuel, Grey Sparrow, The MacGuffin, Pembroke Magazine, and Valparaiso Poetry Review, along with the anthologies Love Notes (Vagabondage Press) and Down to the Dark River: Contemporary Poems about the Mississippi River (Louisiana Literature Press). Fiction credits include Infective INk and Aspen Idea (Aspen Writers’ Foundation/Esquire Short, Short Fiction Contest finalist)

Keeper

With whisk of broom and sling of mop, she
Sweeps across the boards, wringing her hands in glee,
Under a kitchen marquee, whistling “Lorna Doone”
Half consciously. Then with a waxing mind, she parts
The curtains of the living room and curtseys
With a brush of hands, surveying the carpets,
Bringing motes to life, dancing to her tune.
The feel of grit, delight, the stage now set.

As if on cue, content to keep the hours
As light as feathers pushing dust in spirals,
Gliding past rooms and rooms ballooning
In dizzying blurs through ballrooms whirling
In her head–the applause, the whirring, the roars–
Waltzing her vacuum ’cross well-worn floors.