POEM FOR WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIRST HOUSE
All my blond years were spent
with Cabby beautiful collie
named after my favorite vegetable
who one morning before the heat hit
crossed the road toward
the farm full of goats that chewed
my hair like it was straw
a station wagon knocked her
& didn’t even stop Cabby
beautiful as a vegetable buried
in the far back we dug
a hole behind bushes of wild prairie
rose our state flower those
thin petals blushing & open
yellow eyes Dad carried her
body like a duffle full of books
DOWNSIZING
Soon, the house packed up
& everyone will share
all the new edges of broken
& tossed & sold. She asks
Do you want the wedding china?
over the phone, soft, & I say
No & in the background hear it
shatter.
Picture words before sale
like quick.
______________________
Anna Meister is an MFA candidate in Poetry at NYU. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in publications including Sugar House Review, BOAAT, & Bodega. Anna is a finalist for the 2014 Button Poetry Prize. She lives & works in Brooklyn.
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