Things Don’t Go

Things don’t go the way you want them to go. If you
think the handle turns to the right, it turns to the left.
Whichever way you think it turns; it turns the other way.
It is no use trying to anticipate this; in every case it goes
the other way. There’s no use looking for your hat, it’s on
your head, where you will never see it. Whatever comes to
you comes as a gift without your name on it. The moon
wanders around the night sky, the sun rises, and a flock
of birds lands briefly in the unmown grass.

“Things Don’t Go” from Collected Poems by Louis Jenkins © 2023 by Ann Jenkins. Published by Will o’ the Wisp Books. Used with permission.