I Go Back to the House For A Book

"Doppleganger" by John Earles


I Go Back To The House For A Book


I turn around on the gravel and go back to
the house for a book, something to read at
the doctor's office, and while I am inside,
running the finger of inquisition along a
shelf, another me that did not bother to go
back to the house for a book heads out on
his own, rolls down the driveway, and swings
left toward town, a ghost in his ghost car,
another knot in the string of time, a good
three minutes ahead of me — a spacing that
will now continue for the rest of my life.

Billy Collins

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