When I was wee 

I ran away

but had to decide 

what to take with me

It all seemed heavy –

parents, house

stupid toys –

I let them go 

until there 

was only

me and a great

wind lifted up

and I was

alone with my self

a self they neither 

cotton to 

nor covet

for inclusion 

in their coven

But fear

raised doubt

so I took 

one toy

a red rubber ball

to be a spoon

to stir pudding 

like them

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Mike Wilson’s work has appeared in many magazines including The Gravity of the Thing, Mud Season Review, The Petigru Review, Still: The Journal, and in Mike’s book, Arranging Deck Chairs on the Titanic (Rabbit House Press). Mike’s awards include the League of Minnesota Poets Award, the Maine Poets Society Award, and the Chaffin/Kash Prize of the Kentucky State Poetry Society. Mike lives in Lexington, Kentucky.