Forgive me when I praise my wealth
of bedroom clutter:
dusty sneakers I never wear
kept as weapons in the constant war
with spiders on the off-white walls
standing out like Ahab’s coin;
folded towels on a Rubbermaid tub
because I have nowhere to put them;
hand-torch & battery-operated fan
beside my bed, handy
when the power fails;
DVDs stacked tight on shelves—
I collect them to remember joy
of having watched these films &
the other odd joy, in owning them,
of never having to watch these films again;
a bottle of lotion—vaguely lavender;
a tube of cortisone ointment;
empty bottles that once contained
over-the-counter pills to battle
allergies, headaches, reflux;
the boxes filled with books—
my books—I haven’t sold,
clogging chairs in which no one sits.
Praise, too, those books, poetry & prose—
they take up room, filling gaps
in my disorderly fortress,
also in me, where the clutter exists
as memories, hopes, shortcomings,
thoughts of times I failed
or fell down a manhole while high or drunk,
or should’ve made love
to a stranger but didn’t
because I didn’t
know how to speak my holy name aloud.
Of course, there are spaces.
I praise those, &
will continue writing
until I somehow fill each one with words.
Ace Boggess is author of seven books of poetry, most recently My Pandemic / Gratitude List (Mōtus Audāx Press, 2025) and Escape Envy (Brick Road Poetry Press, 2021). His writing has appeared in Indiana Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Hanging Loose, and other journals. An ex-con, he lives in Charleston, West Virginia, where he writes, watches Criterion films, and tries to stay out of trouble. His forthcoming books include the poetry collection, Tell Us How to Live, from Fernwood Press and his first short-story collection, Always One Mistake, from Running Wild Press.
To purchase My Pandemic / Gratitude List Poems. Please use the link below.
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