7.

I could call you Q, she said.

Like Q for quill, or Quasimodo.

Almost like you, that name.

Or that other, that supplier of miraculous gadgets.

“Nice to know old Q can still surprise you…”

There’s a line worth having, second only to

“If he’s Q, does that make you R?”

*

Renaming him rapidly,

she falls from consonant to vowel,

a white-water rafter

kayaking from fear to exhilaration at the speed of a sudden shout.

*

Between Q, and A, no questions, nor answers.

Just this summoning, simple

as only one syllable can be.