Responding to my father's question

By Nick Twemlow

I've described it as

"A silence as white

As hospital clouds."

I've tended to think

Of it as akin to

Occupying space,

Which is not like

Taking up space,

Which implies volition.

As you know,

I sat on a bench

In the mall, while

My friends were passing

Time in class.

High & thus utterly

Imprecise. Moments

Before I sat on the bench,

I had leafed through

The several copies of

The latest issue of Details

At the magazine kiosk

Because Dale had tipped

Us that there was an insert

In it that you could rip

From its perforation

& redeem anywhere

For a free pack of

True cigarettes.

I unperfed six of them

& redeemed them

Immediately. I con-

Sidered this a non-

Trivial event. I

Destroyed this task.

How many ways

Can I tell you I

Killed time? You'd

Cringe to hear even

One story, its

Trace still

Tracking down

My spine,

Even now, twenty

Years later, like

Still doves.

Copyright Credit: Nick Twemlow, "Responding to my father’s question" from Attributed to the Harrow Painter. Copyright © 2017 by Nick Twemlow. Reprinted by permission of University of Iowa Press.

Source: Attributed to the Harrow Painter (2017)