catapult magazine

Stayed

by L.L. Barkat and Kelly Langner Sauer

for Ann Voskamp 

Why do we not
leave home.
Is it really for fear
of what lies
beyond, or rather
for fear that the
roof will abscond
with the doors
and the shutters
we’ve always known.
And who would they
blame if it happened
just so, if the whole
curtained place simply
picked up its stakes,
disappeared on the wind
in our absence. What 
are we really afraid 
of, why do we not
leave home.

 

Reprinted from InsideOut: poems, by L.L. Barkat. Photo by Kelly Langner Sauer.