33 HUDSON AVE by Kalvin M. Madsen

Hello again, brother—

back so soon?

I won’t burn this one;

it’s not meant for a tomb.

I saw you at dusk

in the dry blue light;

you stood for a flash,

then you took flight.

The morning dampened up;

I braced a Play District console.

I saw you there, leaving poison,

then I mumbled down the street

making my retreat—

bitter and curious,

quick on my feet.

My break passed on

like an unfinished song,

belted into the streets

as dead as King Kong.

In my mourning,

with superstitious gaze,

I sought out an address

through sad, symbolic haze.

On a lunch break return,

the street was no longer spooky.

The sun rose high,

and I sat by the Avenue

like it was a river.

The printshop hosted my lunch;

I sat on the stoop, watching

a dark, closed store,

wondering if

you were here anymore.

A few shy words—

but it’s far too bright.

You can’t speak to a ghost

outside of pale moonlight.

Hudson, I’d like to hear the sound of you,

so make your home at 33 Hudson Avenue.

Kalvin M. Madsen is a fiction writer and poet living in Pasadena CA, and is the EIC of Low Hanging Fruit. His short story collection Hello, Receiver was released in 2019, and his upcoming poetry collection “Reasoning Machine” is set to release later this year.