I pat my pockets, dull outline
\nof what I carry, key ring
\nand wallet like furniture<\/p>\n
draped in a dim living room.
\nMy touch is linen, a ticket away,
\nthe morning an open window<\/p>\n
from which a fat turtle
\npokes its head. The simple act
\nof walking outside feels like defiance.<\/p>\n
I’ve known this home three years,
\nunremarkable town, and now
\nI hold a sprig of mint<\/p>\n
to nostalgia’s nose, lead it
\njust out of jaw’s reach,
\nneck stretching as if I could draw<\/p>\n
the creature out of itself
\nlike a brain pulled through the nostril
\nof an embalmed man.<\/p>\n
We’ve done this before,
\nsold ourselves on expectation, paper
\ncurrency we accept, smiling.<\/p>\n
We circulate perceived worth
\nfrom hand to hand,
\nto breakfast table–tomorrow<\/p>\n
a cup of blackberries
\natop a bowl of cream.
\nI hold a new city like a wad of bills,<\/p>\n
hand undiscerning
\nof the counterfeit.
\nWhen it comes to this brand of faith,<\/p>\n
isn’t it better not to question?
\nBoxes arranged in the bed
\nof my pickup, I close myself<\/p>\n
inside its tortoise shell;
\nI fill my mouth with copper coins
\nso I don’t need to speak.<\/p>\n
I pat my pockets, dull outline of what I carry, key ring and wallet like furniture draped in a dim living room. My touch is linen, a ticket away, the morning an open window from which a fat turtle pokes its head. The simple act of walking outside feels like defiance. I’ve known this home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":354,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[46],"tags":[25],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Jypy-3f6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/354"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12469,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12468\/revisions\/12469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp0.vanderbilt.edu\/nashvillereview\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}