by Michelle Matz

I watch the plane approach the gate,
the travelers disembark

weary & bedraggled
readjusting straps, shifting a bag’s weight

one hand to another.
A woman stops, abruptly

turns to her teenage son,
where is your bag?

I watch as the drama unfolds—
the bag left in the overhead compartment

fault angrily volleyed
though it’s clear it was the boy’s responsibility

to remember. It is a loss easily recovered—
the gate agent already on the phone—

but what broke is broken
still—

his mother’s hands
clenched, her voice

a blade,
while the boy

still learning the shape
of his life

quietly averts his eyes.

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Michelle Matz’s poems have appeared, or are forthcoming, in numerous publications, including Mud Season Review, Atlanta Review, The Lascaux Review, Dodging the Rain, and Atticus Review. Her chapbook was a semifinalist in the Ledge Poetry Contest and was published in 2006. Her book, Acoustic Shadow, was recently published by Main Street Rag. Michelle lives in San Francisco where she is a high school dean.

by Michelle Matz

It isn’t necessarily true
that it will all work out in the end.
One door closes but another opens?
Maybe. Maybe
not.
It depends on architecture.
Material matters. And
construction.
A draft can make a house
feel several degrees colder,
drive up your heating
bill.
Caulking helps.
It’s about adhesion
and sash locks.
The man at Home Depot
said properly done,
5 to 10 years. I don’t know
if that’s a lot or a little.
Sometimes I feel so much
sorrow my heart needs propping
up. I don’t know
if it’s a design flaw
or if I lean too hard against walls
never meant to sustain such
weight. Even the best plywood,
the man tells me,
can start to buckle.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Michelle Matz’s chapbook, Atilt, was published by Finishing Line Press. She won the Mary Merritt Henry Prize for a group of poems, was a semifinalist in The Ledge Press Manuscript Contest, and was awarded an Individual Artist Grant through the San Francisco Arts Commission. Her poems have been published in numerous journals, including The Berkeley Poetry Review, Rainbow Curve, So To Speak, Natural Bridge, Cider Press Review, and Lifelines. She lives in San Francisco.