Rachael Katz

Dream Set, Piano Concerto No. 3


1.
Rachmaninoff and the fake princess Anastasia
move into the stucco house at the end
of the block. They invite me
over for a BBQ (they abbreviate
like Americans). “Don’t you love
the suburbs?” Rachmaninoff asks me
“the way the sidewalk repeats itself?”
The fake princess Anastasia jingles her drink
“that’s nice that’s nice that’s
nice.” Though not a religious
man Rachmaninoff says grace:
“God bless these breezy
lawns of pubic drama amen.”

2.
I offer to help the fake princess Anastasia
in the kitchen. In search of a knife we reach
into a drawer at the same time. She places her
hand over my hand over the knives. She places
her other hand over my mouth. Her eyes say
something in a low rumbling Russian. I move
a knife aside to look
for another knife.

3.
The fake princess Anastasia asks if I
would like to have sex with her while Rachmaninoff
plays Piano Concerto No. 3. As if to sweeten the deal
the fake princess Anastasia tells me Rachmaninoff
will be able to manage most of the Concerto
with just one of his colossal hands
so that the other will be free for cupping. She winks
and her fake eyelashes detach. A small
black flag fraying.

4.
As I am gathering my coat
to leave Rachmaninoff
leans into me and whispers
“Years of dreams
just can’t be wrong.”

Rachael Katz works at the Just Buffalo Literary Center. It is glamorous work. She reads in the enormous concrete grain silos as a way to participate in the deep haunting that is the Erie Canal. Her work has most recently appeared in Lemon Hound and Coconut and is forthcoming in Jubilat. Her chapbook Any Berry You Like was published by iO Books this past spring.