Martin Balgach

IF I AM NOT ALONE

Then maybe the stars
are only thick
as fingernails

and our stomachs
will dry out
like jellyfish in the sand

and I am really thinking about
the leftover infatuations
of a lover
growing older
beside the noise
of someone else's coughs

Martin Balgach's poetry and criticism have appeared in The Bitter Oleander, Cream City Review, Fogged Clarity, Many Mountains Moving, Opium Magazine, Rain Taxi, and elsewhere. His chapbook Too Much Breath is forthcoming from Pudding House Publications. He holds an MFA from Vermont College, works in publishing, and lives near Boulder, Colorado. More of his work can be found at www.martinbalgach.com.