"Just as Depression Starts to Let Up" by David B. Prather
Photo Credit: Ricardo Resende, obtained and licensed through Unsplash
Just as Depression Starts to Let Up
Distant music,
whatever I was doing, thinking, is lost.
The storm door hisses
as it closes behind me. Sunlight
feels its way through the neighborhood,
and trees skirt themselves
with shadows. Across the street,
three men walk across a roof, strip
shingles, sweat with their work.
One of them laughs loud enough
that joy fills the afternoon.
At least, that’s how I hear it. Today
is a good day.
The roofer doing the least work
takes his shirt off, his skin so tanned
he looks awash with desire,
a domestic thrill.
A dog barks at the men
as they throw down shreds of roofing,
and it sounds like jump,
jump, jump.
David B. Prather is the author of We Were Birds (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2019), and his second collection, Bending Light with Bare Hands, will be published by Fernwood Press. His work has appeared in many publications, including Prairie Schooner, Seneca Review, Cutleaf, Sheila-Na-Gig, etc. He studied acting at the National Shakespeare Conservatory, and he studied writing at Warren Wilson College.