Above: A parking lot at a luxury apartment complex in downtown Dallas, Texas.
A silhouette, stationed at his Dallas valet stand
awaiting the healthy, the wealthy, the privileged, the
favored. Hugo fled the warfare, mourning the wife
he couldn’t save. Inhales ashes to ashes, exhales.
Breeze beckons dusty grasses and limbs. Inhales
burnt engine oil, exhales. Leather wingtips and
cashmere emerge from a polished Tesla. Inhales
VegaFina cigar, peated Scotch, starched linen,
exhales. Woman steering silver Mercedes presents
herself. Inhales lemon peony, exhales. A limousine
slides to a somber stop. Stilettos, softly knobbed
knees, and a coiled braid materialize. Inhales
Shalimar, merlot, raw perspiration, exhales. Rattling
his reveries as if Bianca’s alive, her nasopharyngeal
carcinoma dead instead. Hugo, the silhouette,
replants his stance.
