[rehab workbook]
sensation of rain on skin
the moon-eye
walks along the Ohio
at 2 a.m.
how a body feels
its humidity
its badger hands slowly
burrowing holes between my ribs
what meat tastes like
off the grill
a little privacy
please
jokes shared
with anyone
not gathering dust
in a cage beside me
*
I stepped too lightly
on the Earth
fell off
I drifted
through life-space
like a missile
made by mistake
from a dropped bolt
I lost my footing
lost my place
*
my eyes learned
to love a wall &
cracked jaundice
of the upper bunk
*
I breathed scents
of men like mud &
wood smoke
like a sewer
I slept & dreamt I was free
I lost that too
*
the house
the car
their broken pipes &
faulty parts
the overgrown lawn
flooded basement
mortgage bills & fees
I want them back
what I gave
to rid them of my life
Ace Boggess is author of three books of poetry, most recently Ultra Deep Field (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2017), and the novel A Song Without a Melody (Hyperborea Publishing, 2016). His writing has appeared in Harvard Review, Mid-American Review, RATTLE, River Styx, North Dakota Quarterly and many other journals. He lives in Charleston, West Virginia.
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