Dupe

—for Jericho Brown

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A poem is an analogy to a poem.

It explains why it can’t be on its own.

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            It explains why I can’t be on my own:

            My first love played the guitar.

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My first love held his guitar like a junkie.

He was a wire monkey just like my mother.

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            My mother held pottery not children.

            Throwing children makes an empty bowl feel chosen.

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Empty bowls stack stack and stack.

Pull them apart. Watch em crack.

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            Kintsugi the crack with nickels not gold.

            Melt the old strings that tie you back.

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Unpack a drawer by turning it upside down.

A poem is an analogy to a poem.

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This is T. Abeyta’s first published poem.