Howie Good

REPAIR WORK

The moon enters in a dark overcoat.
What’s going on here? It’s possible to see

the suicide in people’s faces, the slope
of their shoulders, the way their clothing

is worn, their gait. There are days –
many, in fact – fingers drum impatiently

on the roof. I spoke to the police about it.
The stairs that lead up also lead down

to an iron bed, rumpled sheets, a photograph
of insomnia. Always the same stairs.

I’m hunched over, tightening a screw
with the edge of a dime. It does a bad job.


-


Howie Good, a journalism professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz, is the author of 15 poetry chapbooks. He has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize and five times for the Best of the Net anthology. His first full-length book of poetry, Lovesick, was released in 2009 by Press Americana. He is co-editor of the online literary journal Left Hand Waving.