On Where Things Were

On Where Things Were


Things were where they had been put away
The afternoon that everything
Was lost.

Some called their names.
Some reached down for the missing hands.

And others just walked away
With elbows pulled close
Like wounded wings.

Swifts whistling in fluttering flight
And shrinking to the horizon.

Empty murmurs echoed
As the wind pulled at my clothes
.
Hot dog wrappers scuttled underfoot
As all of the doors on the street
Closed for the final time.