Tatami

Tatami means to fold or pile up. A woman stands in the rain. Her bag is black. Her lips are red. Beelzebub sits on a traffic light watching. She unfolds a mat nine times. Each fold is a memory. Childhood. Heartbreak. Funeral. Prayer. The ninth fold is empty. Empty is not absence. Empty is space. Devi hears. The waiting is the prayer. The prayer is the fold.