POEM VS. HOME

Naked Duvet
J.B. Rowell

It almost looks purposeful,
the down comforter
haphazardly thrown on top.

Who has time to wash, dry,
and button on a coordinated cover,
or even make a bed?


I Stop Writing the Poem
Tess Gallagher

to fold the clothes. No matter who lives
or who dies, I’m still a woman.
I’ll always have plenty to do.
I bring the arms of his shirt
together. Nothing can stop
our tenderness. I’ll get back
to the poem. I’ll get back to being
a woman. But for now
there’s a shirt, a giant shirt
in my hands, and somewhere a small girl
standing next to her mother
watching to see how it’s done.