Birthday Jettisoning Richard Fein Poetry

local_library Birthday Jettisoning

by Richard Fein

Published in Issue No. 3 ~ April, 1996

Finally down to serious discarding, I
go deep into the closet
and find everyone’s threadbare overcoat,
older than my memory of buying it.
In a pocket, a paper
with writing faded almost to illegibility.
Something once was noted,
and I’ve never been known to throw something important away.
I try on the coat.
It no longer fits.
Now I’m trapped within a hoary skin.
And I clutch
a memento that’s as yellowed and wrinkled
as a jaundiced old man.
It’s time to pitch this rag heap.
As for the paper, my very unfolding
tore it apart.

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Richard Fein had this to say about his poem: "The checkout girl in the poem is real. She's someone I flirted with a long time ago. Part of the writing process is storing disparate images in your brain and combining them in interesting ways. This poem is a synthesis of various experiences. The Elvis and UFO articles are also real, but were not simultaneous with my meeting with the girl."