propped open with a twelve-inch-long board resists my attempts to raise it higher in order to free the board so I tap the bottom of the window with a rubber mallet held in my left hand the window rises half an inch far enough for me to shift the board though because I’m still holding the mallet I’m not holding up the now unstuck window so it slams down onto the toppling board & onto my right hand the flat side of the board & my right hand lie wedged between the bottom of the window & the windowsill I drop the rubber mallet try to pull away my hand — stuck try to raise the window — stuck I think about my phone where I set it on the bed after checking the weather rain, it said, from the north, it said a good reason to close the north-facing window now closed, or nearly so again I try to raise the window again I try to pull away my hand I think about foxes & wolves their paws stuck in man-made traps how they chew off their paws so I pull & pull, feel skin tear, pull until my hand comes free indented, numb cold running water slows the bleeding my hand throbs my stiff fingers barely wiggle I dry my hand, apply a bandage I think for a long time about what it means to live alone