What Rough Beast | Poem for September 29, 2018

Quintin Collins
Sold As-is

You know what might be the most American thing there is? Forgetting.
                                                                                    –Kyle Dargan

as the pilasters and facade symmetry show                  the house is a charming new
england
         colonial       and it’s a steal for what you get  in this neighborhood
         the fenced-in yard     provides extra privacy          and security
the house needs some tlc   but don’t fret           the property suffered
             a fire in 1992        the damage was light
         the homeowners remediated                  that issue however the house
                  sits on a floodplain there might still be mold
from 2005                  they did all they could          with what resources
      they had                  the foundation
                 started                  cracking         a         few         hundred
years ago        previous owners never repaired
                  the damage I imagine you could patch the cracks
         with one of those home depot kits the house
                  will be fine     the mothers choking on their children’s blood
                           is a low keening         that’s the house settling
all old houses do that                 this one was built
                                    before 1970 you have to be careful of lead
         bullets         asbestos         tear
                                    gas leaks    knob and tube wiring
one final thing          i should tell you          people have died
                  in the house some natural causes
                                    some murders
but if you don’t believe         in ghosts         or oppressed people
                                             then you have nothing
to worry about         the price         
             is competitive for the neighborhood         if you want
           gut the whole place
                           sounds                  like         fun         to take
                           a sledgehammer to these old walls



Quintin Collins has works that have appeared or are forthcoming in Threshold, Glass Mountain, Eclectica, Transition, and elsewhere. A graduate of the Solstice MFA program, Quintin is a managing editor at a digital marketing agency, where he publishes writing craft blogs. If Quintin were to have one extravagance, it would be a personal sommelier to give him wine pairings for books.

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