Old House (Homage to Larkin) by Mary Winegarden

Column 38. March 17, 2019. Introduction by Benjamin Daniel Lawless.

This is the last release of this run of Toast, and we’re ending it on a poem of transformation. Thank you for reading, sharing and reaching out. This has been an absolute honor to work with Solo Press to bring these poems to you. Please consider getting a copy of Solo Novo 5/6, which will include all poems from Toast and more. We are sending it to the printer this week, so it should be ready within a week or two.

Photo Courtesy Brian Landis

Mary Winegarden

Old House (Homage to Larkin)

Home was cramped,
its walls painted
the pale blue
of disappointment.
The disarray so alarming
you could count on it.
Anxieties piled so high
you could sweep them up
everyday,
with plenty left
to go around.

I swept, I waited.
I grew long hair,
small breasts.
Wore black tights and read
Ginsberg & Donne.
I marched & searched
for sex.
I grew, I swept, I waited.
Then left.
I was done.

Poem copyright © 2019 by Mary Winegarden. Poem printed by permission of Mary Winegarden.
Introduction copyright © 2019 by Solo Press, written by Benjamin Daniel Lawless.

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Toast was a weekly email newsletter that ran from July 2018 to March 2019. All of the pieces from Toast’s run and more can be read in Solo Novo 5/6.

  • Glenna Luschei, Abiding Publisher and Editor Emeritus
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