There May Be Many
fresh
crabapples border
a wild field tennis balls
months ago
now
their soft bodies block
the trail leaves
and a cat
note my passage
a child runs past
back-
pack and mop-
top bouncing
he gazes
back
at my red cap
assuring
my presence isn't
farce
fig
mental
gray hairs govern
my jaw claiming
innocence fearful
I’m eating Chinese
with friends soon I can’t be certain
there'll be guests
Matthew Schmidt’s poems have been published in Pleiades, The Seattle Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, and elsewhere. He is an associate poetry editor at Fairy Tale Review and the Co-Founding Editor of the Iowa-based literary editing and educational nonprofit 1-Week Critique.