Under Fire [by Terence Winch]

Terence Winch

Under Fire       

Stop looking at me.  I didn’t do anything

wrong.  I don’t know the words to the song.

That’s all.  I wandered around the mall

with my broken watch.  I had all my receipts.

But no one would take anything back.

I am stuck with the whole mess.  Saved

phone messages, archived email, notes

you wrote on your hand.  The hand you once

held out to me,  the bed where we once slept

together. The dirty underwear in the hamper.

I don’t know how I will get home.  I don’t

need you to tell me I’m an idiot.  I need you

to remember where I came from so I can get

back there and put out the fire and go to sleep.

—Terence Winch

from i.e.  anthology

from the archive; first printed 8/8/09

Go to Source
Author: The Best American Poetry