as if it was a normal part of the conversation
not unexpected in May of 1944

Sunset. The restaurant we were in
on the hillside the emphatic suggestion
background, foreground, linked
in the array of painted panels
while below them are written the names
shared moment between two players
challenging the reader to see a different story

painterly background of sound
sound of a string quartet playing Mozart
blue water of the harbor

flower strewn hillsides flow down to the sea

Judy Malloy: when the foreground and the background merged