Just the Facts

by Nancy Botkin

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In the chain of time a woman is born in 1886
on the west coast, and her great-grandson

is shot out east in a Jersey parking lot.
And in between those two events, many people

have rocked back and forth, heel to toe, jingling
the change in their pockets, waiting for the bride

to appear at the end of the aisle. And you have been
to the fair, haven’t you? Taken your turn on a big,

bright wheel that floats you to the edge of forever.
You rise up and your hometown gets smaller.

Your body throws down a shadow, but the stars
have never moved. That’s the difficulty of this earth.

 

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About the Author

Nancy Botkin’s poems have appeared in Poetry, Poetry East, The Laurel Review, The South Dakota Review, Eclipse, Salamander, and many others. Her books include Parts That Were Once Whole (Mayapple Press, 2007), In Waves (March Street Press, 2009), and Bent Elbow and Distance (Finishing Line Press,  2011). She lives and teaches in South Bend, Indiana.