Cade Collum

so i got tethered to

the fixing of things—

funny this jar won't open hot

or cold, funny this engine

had more parts before i rebuilt it.

the newspaper smells like moth-balls & tells nothing.

chalk it up to _____.

everyday people get annoyed when _____.

just as the first dinner

after a difficult hour,

so with the wind's scratch & the calendar.

and i am less and less myself.

i speak it when memory fails

i speak it when the river touches my ankles—cold

and close to meaningless.