A Backwards Wish

Charlotte Humphrey

I wish I could back away and wait at the house And oh how I waited, Until you stood up and away from the trees And that awful car reversed Up the road, back into town.

Until you’d back-tracked and re-climbed the fence And re-traced your steps to the house And placed your food back in the bowl Before making your way back into the living room

And I would come back in, walking backwards And you would do up my shoelaces as if you know how And the blanket you shrugged off would jump onto your back And my arms would twist around you and pull you Back onto my lap. Then unwrap you.

You would make your way back to the foot of the stairs And look at me and your stare would say “I’m scared.”