All That Really Happens
Joe Wenderoth

My whole family has died.
There is a song about it.
I can’t remember the sun on my skin.
Not remembering is a house.
There are no rooms in this house.
There are so many animals.
I would like to gather up one by one
the animals in my bed.
I would like to sleep with them,
in the sleep that comes after the house.
My whole family is dead.
There is a song about it.
The animals would sing the song.
Each animals thinks
about singing
and then sleeps
upon a tiny word-
colored plot of sun.
Each owes on its plot,
owes more than it could possibly pay.
This owing is all that really happens.

All That Really Happens – Joe Wenderoth

Joe Wenderoth has published books you can get pretty easily, if you have the internet and a credit card.  He teaches “creative writing” at UC Davis.

Billed as a Poetry Night against Political Repression, the November 15, 2012 Poetry in Davis reading featured Joe Wenderoth, Joshua Clover, and Juliana Spahr. Read more about the event here.