When we saw the little red shoes at his door that summer morning, we were less than surprised. She was darling. He was a good boy. They were both seventeen. We’d have done the same but hidden our trail. That they appeared to be outfront and unashamed, we took as a sign of their maturity. That they could trust us with such intimacy, we assumed to mean they knew we wouldn’t judge. We hung out in the office congratulating ourselves on our restraint and tolerance, while he lovingly fixed her fruit and cereal for breakfast, then drove her to work. Later, he told us that her parents were fighting and she’d been afraid to go home. They didn’t even think about us. Children find their own. They come through our world, born of our time. They leave, stewards of our dust.

Jack Cooper’s

first formal collection of poetry, Across My Silence, was published by World Audience, Inc. (New York, NY, 2007). His work has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize and chosen as a finalist in North American Review’s James Hearst Poetry Prize. His poetry has also appeared in The South Dakota Review, The Evansville Review, The MacGuffin, and many other publications.

His play That Perfect Moment, co-written with Charles Bartlett, was a headliner at the NOHO Arts Center in North Hollywood, California, and The Little Victory in the 2009-10 seasons.

www.jcooperpoetry.com

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ A Man with a Beautiful Mind: Jack Cooper, an interview by Sonya Sabanac for Poet’s Quarterly (1 October 2012); includes the concrete poem, “Shrew”