One-Time Use

Camera in a twelve-room house.
Twenty-four exposures, one-time use.

Cobwebs and a sable wrap,
diaphragm and Dimetapp,

wrenches and yellow quarts,
Clan of the Cave Bear, Torts,

diplomas, "Girls of the Big Ten,"
sunlight and gin,

china and Queen Anne chairs,
carpet and tears,

shotgun and NordicTrack,
white slips and black,

two angels on a shelf.
Your wife. Yourself.

Richard D. Allen
The Hudson Review
Volume LVIII, Number 1
Spring 2005

Copyright © 2005 by The Hudson Review, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.

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