michael e woods: Paying for My Father’s Remains

michael e woods: Paying for My Father’s Remains
Jamison McAndie

Jamison McAndie

Paying for my father’s remains

 

this is why i wanted a pit in the last bite, a shovel and a gavel

this is why i wanted a leather briefcase

this is why i wanted the tomatoes to stop budding, why i winter wanted the boil

this is cavity why i wanted birth

 

this hoax of honesty is why i wanted

grandma is this a second wanted, why this is why

i wanted a pit and bucket

this is why i looked for wanting in the grip

 

this is a lacquer look i wanted why

finish this is why i wanted dirt

this is why i wanted a drill bit finger tapping on the table

this a dropped penny

 

this is wanted i thought: some tube-sock highway and a body

this is why i wanted at least the cardboard box

this is why i wanted to leave the office

this father’s ashes i wanted why


in this room i thought, why is this a want to buy

here is a handshake: why is this a wanted smile

this is why i wanted a cremation and a pit
this is why i wanted the car keys and another scream into quiet lobby

 

this is why i wanted a breath and a fan, a beak and a toga, a bit tongue, or here

this is why i wanted to come along. come alone now,

this a long come here


michael e woods used to live with a family of raccoons. He edits the Columbia Poetry Review and teaches at Columbia College Chicago where he is an MFA candidate. He received the Merrill Moore Prize for Poetry in 2015 from Vanderbilt University. Recent work appears in The Rising Phoenix Review, The New Territory, and Eclectica Magazine. Forthcoming works can be seen soon in Solidago Journal, The Prodigal's Chair, and The Nassau Review. Find him online @michaelewoods.