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View this writing in the free
John T. Hitchner chapbook
Not Far From Here.
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Not Far From Here
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“I don’t live here.”

John T. Hitchner

Words come,
but not the right words;
not ones that match images
behind his eyes.

He is 78.
He asks his wife, “Is Oswald dead?”
Before sleep, he tells her “Goodnight, Gigi,”
Gigi his pet poodle dead two years.

He remembers his mother’s first name
his high school football jersey number,
but not his current address
or town he lives in.

He does not read a newspaper.
He holds it, blinks at print and pictures,
and turns pages in the rhythm
of his breathing.
When he signs his name,
he writes the letters
like a child learning cursive.

One day letters don’t come.
One day names don’t come.
One night he runs away.
Police bring him home.
“I don’t live here,” he tells them.

His final home a ‘care facility,’
where nurses raise their voices to him,
where attendants button his shirts for him,
and where his wife brings him canvas loafers,
eats lunch with him,
and slices his meat loaf.

Before she leaves,
he holds her and sobs, “I don’t live here.”

She does not say goodbye anymore.
She has already said it
more times than she can remember.



Scars Publications


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