Poem with a Lie in It
People let themselves down so hard they took to clappingwhen the plane lands. Sometimes even at the creditsof a movie. Their funerals turned out to be for the livingall along. You wouldn’t know how much they hatedcrowded trains by the way they kept boarding. What elsecould render even touch mundane? People tipped their waythrough the embarrassment of being waited on. Trippedthemselves into cruelty so often they invented ways to begentle in absence: walking around instead of throughfrisbee games in the park. Taking their care not to stepon sandcastles, apologizing for their dogs that loved everythingbetter but couldn’t get those soft parts right. Like that, I saw youat the ballfields. At the movies. At your mother’s homegoing.This morning on the subway. Lost in the beginning of…
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The American Poetry Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2023