You say you left one foot
on the bus this morning
when you were rushing to work?
Yes, hold on a second— let me
check our lost and found.
Can you please describe this foot?
In a black sandal, got it. And—
are there any distinguishing marks?
No, I’m sorry to pry— it’s just
we do get a lot of lost items here.
You really wouldn’t believe
the ears, fingers, even whole legs—
the people who leave their heart behind
and never notice that it’s gone—
Oh yes, I’m glad you called!
I think I have it here. The sandal—
Clarks, yes? This must be it.
If you could just stop by
within the next two weeks,
we can get that back to you.
I’m sorry, that’s as long
as we can hold it. Our space, you see—
there’s only so much room
for all the pieces people leave behind.
This was written in response to one of Rattle‘s Poetry Prompts. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that they reset each month, and I didn’t write down what the actual prompt was… but you can find the latest ones here if you want to check them out. And also unfortunately, it wasn’t chosen to be published, but so it goes. Wait, hold on… I found the page with previous prompts… it was “write a poem that begins with an idiomatic expression that you take literally or incorrectly, and see where it goes.” Well, there you go – I took the expression “pull yourself together.”
