Odyseus was stuck in traffic on I-84 coming home through Hartford on his way back to his Ithaca in the suburbs. Or he had to stay late at the office because work was really piling up but he really had his secretary on the desk in his office. Or he just took a shine to traveling because of the draggings of home where pretenders await his return like emboldened mice who feast openly. He took the scenic route to beat the traffic crowds and put a little space between him and the others who prefer to remain motionless. But when he finally did get home he found a way to put it all right again, tuck the kids in their tidy beds and kiss good-nite an oblivious wife Had he the right to call this home?

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Gordon Purkis lives and writes in Connecticut. He started writing poetry in high school and is now 26. His poems have appeared in American Writing, New Dimensions and in the forthcoming Poetry Motel.