If I Had Not Been Writing the Poem— Renee Emerson

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by Renee Emerson

The laundry would be done and folded;
in fact, I would have made our own clothes
by hand, from sheep I raised myself. Yes, 
the toys would be picked up, carpets 
vacuum-furrowed, no dust feathering 
each door and picture frame. The children 
would obey the first time. I would not 
even have to ask them to obey. My hair 
wouldn’t frizz, I’d be thin. I wouldn’t 
have forgotten, I would have been there 
early, known what to do, who to ask. 
I wouldn’t have gotten the speeding ticket, 
the library fine. I’d garden successfully—
our table would overflow with organic 
tomato and kale, and our kids would eat it 
with a smile. I’d only say nice things to you 
and to my in-laws, and I’d feed the sick, 
the poor, the needy. Dinner would be ready 
when you walk in the door, 
and it wouldn’t be tacos again. 

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Renee Emerson is the author of the poetry collections Keeping Me Still (Winter Goose Publishing 2014), Threshing Floor (Jacar Press 2016), and Church Ladies (Fernwood Press 2023). She lives in the Midwest with her husband and children.