“sometimes I think I understand everything
but I know I’m wrong” – Frank Stanford
Age won’t deliver wisdom like a package
To your door, followed by a photo e-mail
To prove it had been left there, just in case
Porch pirates beat you to picking it up.
Wisdom seeps into your foundation like
Moisture beading on cold cellar walls.
It dangles off the ordinary like a frayed
Thread hangs from a favorite sweater.
Not the mere accumulation of years
But a summoning from out of them.
M.J. Arcangelini, born in Pennsylvania in 1952, has
resided in northern California since 1979. He has published in little
magazines, online journals (including The James White Review, Rusty Truck, The
Ekphrastic Review, The Gasconade Review, Trailer Park Quarterly, As It Ought To
Be Magazine, and The Rye Whisky Review), & over a dozen anthologies.
He is the author of 6 published collections, the most recent of which is PAWNING
MY SINS, 2022 (Luchador Press).
