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Leaving Home
The Hyacinth Review
The Hyacinth Review

Leaving Home

by
October 4, 2023
Acanthus Embroidered Panel, William Morris, 1890

L.P. Patterson's writing in the genres of criticism and poetry…

It's a cruelly cold April night in Saratoga. Where the trees fall low and dip their shivering wings into shadows on my walls, I see myself sorting the camouflage of my souvenirs beneath the night's tin lamp. I read much from these; jars of wildflower honey, a cord of silver chain— shibboleths I wrap in unwashed sheets and bury beneath the bed as the sky bends, an intractable bridge to lead me away. The fence’s gates’ blossoming acanthus and iron sticks keep me in the winding path, as the looking of the stars mingles with the few airplanes’ strobing beacons. There’s woodbine honeysuckle holding its chandelier upside-down in an offering, and the clouds descending make bracelets around the moonlight striping my wrists. That night the architecture had changed, as I opened the door, to see the restaurant’s tables, floors, and shelves were flooded with tea candles, as a dozen suited men and women in gold gowns slowly waltzed in the small lights. I thought I was dreaming of the self-immolating flames in the double doors I passed on my way outside. I had turned my back like the strange eyes of sunflowers who turn waking to the first arches of light, distant and slow in a morning. From my seat on the bus to the waiting airport, I thought that I looked at the road and saw the honeysuckles blooming backwards, and closing my eyes, I knew I would soon fall asleep to the throbbing engines in my ears.
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L.P. Patterson's writing in the genres of criticism and poetry has appeared in Comunicazioni Sociali, Ephemera Journal of Theatre and Performance Studies, Palaver Journal, Ponder Review, Foothill Poetry Journal, The Columbia Review, and F(r)iction. His work in the genre of playwriting has been a finalist with Baltic Writing Residencies, and his poetry chapbook was recently a semi-finalist in the 2022 BWR Chapbook Contest judged by Kaveh Akbar. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, he lives in Santa Clara, California with his wife while teaching at San José State University

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