RobertWooten

Child of Divorce

Suddenly, Raymond had

five different places to go at Christmas-

five different Christmas trees

under which to sit and open presents

and five different birthday parties.

Thanks to divorce and remarriage,

he had more clothes than he could fit

into his closets, more friends

than he could tell you about,

more places at which to vacation

than he could ever prognosticate.

Everywhere that he went

he could not afford to stay

for a long time, he was just visiting-

but rarely did anyone visit him.

The All-in-one Utensil

I did some work for her,

and she entrusted me

with her all-in-one utensil,

at which point I drove her

to my mother's house

where, having paid me,

she awaited her ride

back to her home.

After she left I remembered it,

and I showed it to my mother-

shaped like a pocket knife-

as long as a rolled napkin

beside a plate at a set table-

silver and gold instruments

slid back and forth from the tip

when I checked to see

what it held. She invited me over

when I called about it,

and I was seated on her gold couch

for an hour after she took it-

reduced to one

who looked like an old friend-

before I was returned home

for having returned it.

__________

I earned an MFA in poetry at the University of Alabama (1998) and an MA with a creative writing focus at North Carolina State University (1994). Numerous periodicals have published my poems. A limited edition chapbook of my poems, Raymond Poems, was published in 1999.