TY HOLTER

A Change to the Wall and the House

I would like to write a poem somewhat like the one
I just read, but from a differing perspective.
My worry is that I haven’t paid attention in my life
to the right stuff.

The poem begins, for instance, by adhering
an earlier image to the third person
before the first person ever comes in. To think of that.

And now that I keep on reading, it couldn’t be clearer
that its the objects in the poet’s life I find
interesting, not them—well played!

A white wall, off-white, that before had been washed out
in another part of the day and now has a dimension
to it, sighs. The gas moving through the house,
or the water. One never stops to think what it’s from.

Ty Holter is the author of Extended Stay (CCCP Chapbooks, 2023). His work has appeared in Firmament, Minor Literature[s], Keep Planning, and elsewhere. A teacher and poet, he lives in Western Massachusetts.