kick your shoes off
take your seat
not home yet
I want a place to
rest
when my bones ache
front door creaks open
a single bark . . . Paws
sliding on hardwood
hermit crab
all of my memories
fit inside a suitcase
top quarter champion
TOP half Chamption
bottom quarter champion
open door
open arms
bag full of clothes
picked up after class
change of clothes in the trunk
grandpa sports all black
AC-less summer
Dad reminds us
where he grew up
euchre tournament
mom’s lit cigarette
chokes my table talk
TOP half champion
CHAMPION
BOTTOM half champion
nothing’s changed
the road to home
under construction
home
two turns
passing the strip club
my town’s claim to fame:
The World’s Largest
Corn Maze
I look out
the edge of town
corn and beans
top quarter champion
BOTTOM half Chamption
bottom quarter champion
city park
the ghost of seventeen
skips to the fountain
two strangers swing
in a park they know well
my brother and I
leftover change
I remember the face
of my first crush
introduced to a new man
in high school he was
my girlfriend