or I am putting me away
and you who’ll walk in
where I went to sleep to love to dream
while on the wall hung
heightened moments from my life
you who’ll come to take this place
or look it over
do not need to know
what hangs once flew
to New York City
from Tennessee, Canada, and France
the boat with no one in it
on an empty river
gave up Chattanooga
the watercolored animal—an ass—
two men’s heads emerging
from its back, its ears up
to catch their conversation
made us laugh in Banff
the goldfish jumping
high above the ocean’s waves
entered through a poem in
My Alexandria by Mark Doty
we’d brought to a friend in Paris
who invited us to share last days.
And so it goes
Published in Cider Press Review, Volume 25, Issue 6.
Myra Shapiro’s poems have appeared in many periodicals and anthologies including The New Yorker and The Best American Poetry. She is the author of a memoir and three (3) books of poems, most recently When the World Walks Toward You. She serves on the Board of Directors of Poets House and teaches workshops for the International Women’s Writing Guild.
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