January 2025
Bio Note: I'm a New Mexico poet: have had poems in: I-70 Review, Red EFT, Storyteller Review, and others. In 2016, I completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Nebraska – Omaha. Recently nominated for my second Pushcart.
What You Won’t Find in the Building Salvage Yard
Ever notice, when an old house is being torn down, how certain things stand out that you never noticed— like the corbelled eaves; wallpaper on a closet’s walls; that the porch ceiling was painted sky blue?
Or the paneled doors now stacked against the maple by the curb;
the number of white sinks and bathtubs—fixtures still attached—scattered on the grass where they were dropped;
the mantels and fireplace surrounds, pried from their walls, tilted side-by-side along the chipped white balusters of the front porch?
And later, the sudden sky space over the azaleas surrounded by the trees that always cluttered the yard in autumn;
and how you feel noticing the foundation after the parts have been taken away?
It’s then the echo comes to you: the meaty slap of screen door and squeak of front steps as you sit on the lawn swing outside the shrubbery, your heels pushing into the grass.
©2025 John Hicks
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -JL