March grew
until the underworld was endless.
Sometimes after work I walked
to the dollar store.
I gave myself a budget: $2.
One day I bought saltshakers
shaped like a Dutch Boy and Girl.
On the way back to my apartment
where I lived above a man with a dying dog
I walked past a magnolia—
buds like litter in the tree.
And then a thought I’d never thought
occurred to me:
As long as I live I will never wear wooden shoes.
And that was the moment when
I felt again the stirrings
of friendliness toward my life.
The Reprieve
Lee Upton
Lee Upton is the author of seven books of poetry, including The Day Every Day Is. Her comic novel Tabitha, Get Up appeared in May 2024.
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Poem of the Week
Originally published:
July 20, 2022
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