The last fifteen years of my life lie
heaped up, ready to be trucked out
of this house. My bookcase stands empty.
My closet holds a scatter of discards.
Odd to know I’ll never wake again
to this white ceiling, this white wall
on which I’ve blocked out so many
imagined scenes. I ache to keep a key
for every lock, and dig a tunnel
to make sure I can return. And yet
I know, if I drive by in a year, I’ll see
a different family saga playing out,
and speed off stunned by how little time
the world requires to write over me.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 27, Issue 6.
Charles Harper Webb’s twelfth collection of poems, Sidebend World, was published in 2018 by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Red Hen Press published his novel Ursula Lake in spring, 2022. Recipient of grants from the Whiting and Guggenheim foundations, Webb teaches Creative Writing at California State University, Long Beach.See all items about Charles Harper Webb
