by William Aarnes
Ready and waiting, surrounded
by a golf course (with flagsticks
of gold), the dacha’s not far
from Gelendzhik.
The cook
is comely. Every maid
is comely. The nurse is comely.
They all speak English.
All the appointments—
the chandeliers, the doorknobs,
the faucets, the toilet seats—
are gold.
The guards at the gate
are burly. The gardener
is burly. The doctor is burly.
They all love Russia.
The gold safe has a dial
studded in diamonds.
Inside—at least that’s the deal—
is every copy of the tape.
William Aarnes lives in South Carolina.