“Middle Distance”
in a room
of books
just off the side
walk
on a Sunday
sometime before
like an afterthought
they had picked up
all the Poetry
they had
and shoved it
to the back
far corner
wedged between
a rack of magnets
within the realm
of children’s books
near the barista
that talks
and the cashier
that talks
and the parents
that talk
there was jest
enough room
to stand
and reach
and it was there
in the middle of my life
that I first met
Stanley Plumly
TL