POETRY August 12, 2011

The Mailman

Dana Kroos

by Dana Kroos

I am in love
with the mailman.
I know that it is a
cliché, but
I can’t help it.
I love his sense
of routine and commitment,
his tracks in the snow,
the rubber-band with which
he binds
my bills and catalogues
together.

He is not
obstructed by phone calls,
appointments, traffic, road
construction or Big Wheels
scattered across his path;
does not feel obliged to make
small-talk; and when the dog
barks furiously he maintains
a Zen silence.

It is true,
I have never seen him; but
I imagine that he has large
hands and delicate fingers for
slipping all of those letters into
boxes.  I fantasize that one day
he will save me from all of this
chaos.  I would like to put
myself in a stack with the
outgoing mail so that he can
pick me up,
categorize me in his
canvas bag and
carry me around on his hip
all day long.

Dana Kroos received an MFA in fiction writing from New Mexico State University. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Glimmer Train, The Superstition Review, The Florida Review, Minnesota Monthly and others. She also holds an MFA in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. Currently she resides in Las Cruces, NM where she teaches creative writing and art at Alma d’arte High School and English at New Mexico State University.
Dana Kroos received an MFA in fiction writing from New Mexico State University. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Glimmer Train, The Superstition Review, The Florida Review, Minnesota Monthly and others. She also holds an MFA in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. Currently she resides in Las Cruces, NM where she teaches creative writing and art at Alma d’arte High School and English at New Mexico State University.