What’s the difference between
eviction and our sad condition except
that the former gives birth to the latter?
Behind me – if I am still visible – is
the house where no one grew up anymore.
Mother, father, brothers, sisters,
the uncle who slept in the back parlor
that winter of bad luck. All erased,
the simplest answer to a crowded world.
Sitting on the front steps, I wait
for the truck that will gather up
newly christened trash. I’d read
the poem I wrote about all this, but
it’s buried somewhere in piles
of furniture and clothes. Maybe
I’ll fetch it later and read it
aloud on the street corner.
Or maybe I won’t. Maybe it’s
gone. Ah, well. No, great loss.
About the Poem
Inspired by the end of the delayed date for eviction ban because of Covid and renewal and extension of that date by the federal government.
About the Author
Richard Broderick is the author of several award-winning books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.