My hands have become
his: freckles, prominent veins,
wrinkles where fingers crook.
Oh, how it holds his scent:
motor oil, weathered oak,
Louisiana, leather work gloves.
My arms slide like summer
into his sleeves. The scent
dissipates. Threadbare cotton
settles onto my shoulders,
a second skin.
Ken Autrey is a Professor Emeritus of English at Francis Marion University now living in Auburn, Alabama. His work has appeared in Atlanta Review, Cimarron Review, Poetry Northwest, Southern Poetry Review, Texas Review, and elsewhere. He has published three chapbooks: Pilgrim (Main Street Rag), Rope Lesson (Longleaf Press), and The Wake of the Year (Solomon and George). He coordinates the Third Thursday Poetry Reading Series at Auburn University.