2013 Pushcart Prize nominated poem

Packing for the future:

                                                (after Lorna Crozier)

Take a pair of socks.  Thick, blue or brown,

wherever you go, you’ll have to walk.  A velvet

pouch to hold the words, the seeds.  White

underwear. Pounds and pounds of laughter

wrapped tightly in a rice paper sack.  A few

golden coins, a water bottle.  Just stuff

one bundle and put a stick through it, carry it

on your shoulder.  Leave town walking

backwards to wave goodbye to the trees

and the neighbors.  Packing for the future

requires discipline:  know what you’ll need

and take what you won’t.  Take a pair of socks,

thick and brown, leave the rest behind.  Paper?

Pencils? Who needs them!  Speak your stories

to anyone who’ll listen.  Ask them

for a chicken leg in return, a slice of raisin bread.