SIX MONTHS LATER, I SAY UNCLE TO MY BROTHER


Raymond, I admit it.
You’ve stumped me now
as we stumped you.

We clutched you by the ankle.
You slipped a leg off
like an anchor and slid through

the final wall. In the parlor game, 
they ask what 
would one do, 

blocked
and emptyhanded 
at the dead end of a hall.

Clever of you to answer
with a playground chant.
I got that. Remember,

Can’t go
over it, can’t go under it,
got to go through it.

The days are getting tall again
outside. I’m still trying
to work this through,

but there’s no way around it,
no crack, no hint,
not even a wind.

And you always liked 
to tease me.
So this time, I’ll give in—

Your turn. Knock
it off. Come back.
You win.


Jean Kane’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including Prairie Schooner, The Georgia Review, South Dakota Review, Indiana Review, 3:AM, Hotel Amerika, and Fogged Clarity. Her book of poems, Make Me, was published by Otis Nebula in 2014.