What I was doing at the time
I was standing by a pump at a gas station in Dodge City and a woman screamed at a man in Spanish.
I was listening to Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and thought of my sister who first played it for me.
I was looking out the window to watch a Downy woodpecker.
I was wasting time looking at a blank TV screen.
I was thinking about the concept of wasting time.
I was watching a bird take off and saw it piss as it flew away.
I was writing something down about a time I remembered in 1967.
I was watching TV and saw the President who was lying.
I was holding my grandchild just after he was born and our daughter was weeping.
I was getting into a car to take Debbie to the hospital.
I was putting on a winter coat to walk to the bus for work.
I was shooting a shotgun at my first pheasant.
I was smiling at my brother when he visited from college.
I was sitting in a chair crying when I thought of him.
I was walking in a pasture near some black cows that looked at me with interest.
I was saying goodbye to my parents when we moved away.
I was wincing when the doctor told me it was my appendix causing the trouble.
I was holding my mother in the recovery room.
I was sitting on a table talking with friends over beer.
I was walking up the stairs to get to the attic.
I was talking on the phone about the next peace conference.
I was looking up a name of a guy who could help.
I was standing in the bathroom looking at my hair in the mirror.
I was looking for something in an old shoebox.
I was picking up my grandson from school.
I was dusting off a chair and watching the motes in the morning sun.
I was asking a question when the cop cut me off.
I was watching a man beg but I did not make eye contact.
I was trying to forget that the next day I saw him.
I was listening to a woman talk about civil rights.
I was trying to hear something but I went back to sleep.
I was looking at a sign but I was still turned around.
I was holding hands with you when we crossed the bridge.
I was trying to tell you something.
Greg Kosmicki is the author of 8 chapbooks and 6 books of poems. His most recent collection, We Eat the Earth was published by WSC Press in November, 2022. His previous collection, It's As Good Here as it Gets Anywhere, from Logan House, was a finalist for the 2017 High Plains Book award.