top of page

William R. Harvey Pirate Poetry Contest Winner

​

Have You Seen This Girl?

Amarah Ennis 


I'm a little too old for runaway fantasies.
Too rooted to dream
of picking up and leaving without saying goodbye.
Not that I've ever said goodbye:
you always left too early to give me a chance.
I'm a little too old for runaway fantasies,
Too modern to dream
of rattling boxcars and baked beans over Lyfts and McDonalds.
I'd be tracked down, anyway:
my phone, my car,
the bones of my face,
all noted by onlookers and recited to you
over a tip line,
over the evening news,
over the ever-expanding web.
I'm a little too old for runaway fantasies,
so now I dream
of what comes after:
missing posters,
news headlines,
empty caskets—
bodies in ditches,
bloated with rainwater and morning mist.

​

​

bottom of page