The Prosecution Rests
︎︎︎ Sorcova de Corb
︎ Aug 25, 2026
When did you know?
Three seconds after meeting, rushing on College,
then right on Russell? You skipped and coursed.
I couldn’t keep up. Sodium streetlamps gilded your
feline grin. The bored Slav minding
cigarette cartons and a scratched counter
scowled when I pointed at breath mints, but
lines on his forehead softened while you joked.
I shoved you out, afraid your voltaics would spark the two
pumps. Behind the closing door, he pocketed change,
watching me chase the wind-spun riot of your hair.
Was it when we mapped each other’s faces, palpating
salted trails after a long night under Sonoma redwoods?
Reclined in the passenger seat, cheeks lychee-pink,
daring me to steer one-handed through Big Sur bends?
Tell me. When did a gavel strike your chest,
announcing winter?
How did you know that we too would
forget summer?
Answer!
Defense objects, your Honor.
Opposing counsel is litigating ghosts.
SUSTAINED!
A fruitless line of questioning:
The witness-accused isn’t present, and
this court is not a time machine.
ALL RISE:
Our finding is that there’s no when or how—
not anymore—
a Cheshire or Maneki-neko cipher,
dissolved.
Three seconds after meeting, rushing on College,
then right on Russell? You skipped and coursed.
I couldn’t keep up. Sodium streetlamps gilded your
feline grin. The bored Slav minding
cigarette cartons and a scratched counter
scowled when I pointed at breath mints, but
lines on his forehead softened while you joked.
I shoved you out, afraid your voltaics would spark the two
pumps. Behind the closing door, he pocketed change,
watching me chase the wind-spun riot of your hair.
Was it when we mapped each other’s faces, palpating
salted trails after a long night under Sonoma redwoods?
Reclined in the passenger seat, cheeks lychee-pink,
daring me to steer one-handed through Big Sur bends?
Tell me. When did a gavel strike your chest,
announcing winter?
How did you know that we too would
forget summer?
Answer!
Defense objects, your Honor.
Opposing counsel is litigating ghosts.
SUSTAINED!
A fruitless line of questioning:
The witness-accused isn’t present, and
this court is not a time machine.
ALL RISE:
Our finding is that there’s no when or how—
not anymore—
a Cheshire or Maneki-neko cipher,
dissolved.
Sorcova de Corb hails from Carpathian hinterlands and tends to a small garden in the Lone Star State. He no longer consorts with the fair folk.
Also by Sorcova: skyline boulevard
Also by Sorcova: skyline boulevard