Bones
What They Left
A lampshade. Three dustpans. Half a bottle of whiskey
under the kitchen sink. Six magnetic letters on the refrigerator,
helmet. theelm. melteh! Pink nail polish stuck to a drawer.
A sock under the stairs, stained brown. A light-switch cover
with a thermometer in the small bedroom. Tucked behind it,
a Bible lesson from Cincinnati. What was Jericho? A city
with great walls about it. One shoe. An empty dresser, i hate him
penciled into the top drawer. Who lived in Jericho? Three
bootprints walking down the hall, a light bulb in the attic.
Two fire extinguishers. When the men of Israel walked around Jericho,
who went first? A row of ten pennies along the wall, each an inch apart.
Armed men, that is, the soldiers. Dead leaves and dark rectangles
on the wood floors. Nothing. The elm. A view of my bedroom.
Onions. Electricity. Carpet.
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