Question asked by Marne Wilson
A terrible day’s the one we won’t see coming.
It doesn’t slap us around; it silences
shrill cries of those finding us absent
from our tender boxes.
Happy or unhappy days
are all a man can bless or curse us with,
null days more likely as we sit,
numbed by space between our eyes &
the TV. Maybe we’ll smell grilled cheese
sizzling in a nearby kitchen,
then perk up, though hunger waits
for us to fade our moods.
Next, a doe dashes through the yard,
trailed by two fawns speckled like
photonegatives of still-life
with chocolate-chip cookies.
That’s what I wish for you, friend:
a three-deer day with grilled cheese &
baked goods, even if that was
yesterday, the same again tomorrow.
It means the terrible never found you:
you scuffed your bike but survived your
Snake River Canyon jump, felt energized
with thrill, even if you broke a bone or two.
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 20, Issue 1.
Ace Boggess is the author of two books of poetry: The Prisoners (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2014) and The Beautiful Girl Whose Wish Was Not Fulfilled (Highwire Press, 2003). He currently resides in Charleston, West Virginia.
See all items about Ace Boggess
