My Mind Is Kept by William Campbell

In a trunk
next to naked dolls
barbed wire
and burnt flowers

Mother keeps the keys
hidden in her false teeth
solution while she sews
a velcro wardrobe

For the cats
that keep mice scared
and in hibernation
I cannot trust anyone

This was written back in '86. I was a college freshman and in a poetry class just for kicks.
Our artist-in-residence, Bill Gammel, was often late for class, and had instructed us to pass the time
by writing a group poem on the chalkboard. So, as we waited, we each took turns writing a
line at a time on the chalkboard. One night Gammel came in late, read what was on the board,
and was pissed. It was the worst thing he'd ever read. He was disgusted with us. So then we
were instructed to take the words on the chalkboard, change the order, and make something half-way
decent out of it. My Mind Is Kept is what I did with it. It was finally published in a small press
magazine called The Sterling Web in the early 90's and is to this date my one and only published poem.

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