“Anniversary” by Erik Campbell

Erik Campbell

ANNIVERSARY

for Alex Dimitrov

I was crying in front of the Quick Trip
because I was out of cigarettes

and left my wallet at home and
it was my anniversary and so it was

New Year’s Eve, and already too much
had gone wrong for me too often

to feel conspicuous about it,
crying, I mean, since it is the end

of articulate speech and why
one leaves most crying men alone.

I didn’t look up from my hands
for almost an hour, and when I did,

my eyes two fish-eyed lenses, I saw
the blurred moon and another man

crying, filling up his car, looking at me.
“I’m crying because you are,” he whispered

loudly over. “I’m also crying because
maybe it means one of us must stop soon.”

from Rattle #47, Spring 2015

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Erik Campbell: “I read and write poetry to remind myself that I have a soul that needs a periodic tune-up.” (website)

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