LOOKING FOR A POEM

​It’s cold
outside
before sunup
and like
neighborhood kids
looking for
a cat
I am
looking for
a poem
its Veterans
day and
there are
free haircuts
and breakfasts
and I’m
looking for
a poem
it’s Saturday
and the
ghosts are
still screaming
and I’m
looking for
a poem
it’s November
in a
town by
the lake
and I’m
looking for
a poem
I’m 52
with ruined
hips a
sore back
and I’m
looking for
a poem
it’s everything
and nothing
it’s magic
and loss
it’s soap
soup and
salvation
its a
thing you
never talk
about like
a mistress
or PTSD
it hides
in plain
sight it
winds my
clock trips
my trigger
it’s the
first thing
I reach
for and
the last
thing I
think of
it’s as
thin as
smoke but
hot as
fire it’s
why I
get up
at 5 am
and drive
the empty
streets because
today
like every
day I
am looking
for a
poem.
 
—Matt Borczon