Two Poems

Joseph Grantham

my aunt annie is a poet and a poetry professor

she is married to my uncle ricky

i don’t know if she likes my poems

or if she thinks they are any good

i don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings

this is a poem meant to be read aloud

in a monotone voice in my apartment

on north calvert street in baltimore

i live right around the corner

but aunt annie can’t hear me

she lives far away

in reno

my wife has a friend

who thinks i’m no good at what i do

now every friend of my wife

is wondering if i might be referring to them

if you’re reading this poem

or hearing me read it

i want you to know that i know

you don’t think i’m any good at what i do

but i work hard at this

it doesn’t come easy to me

though it may seem that way

yesterday i put my shoes on at 11 p.m.

and walked up the block to the car

to grab the tension rods from the trunk

so i could hang up curtains

in the backroom

so no one could see me

when i fall asleep

how many times can i hold your hand in one night

1...2...3...4

i can hold your hand four times in one night

i think i can probably do it more times than that

i think i can put clean clothes on earlier in the day

i think i can do the dishes before they add up in the sink

my sleep mask is not good for my complexion

i don’t need to know anybody new for a while

Joseph Grantham is the author of Raking Leaves (Holler Presents, 2019) and Tom Sawyer (CCM Press, 2018). He lives in America.