In Case
I may not be much to look at
I would just like to be inhabited
My father told me once
that he thought I was
ungrateful by nature
Our water temperature is touchy
The floor boards are creaky
I will apologize for them
I never knew who installed
either but maybe if we work
hard we can quiet their
groans
Or at least drown
them out with music
that men in cuffed jeans
blare on Tuesday nights
And we will get ants in
the summertime but I won’t
ever get angry at you
for walking on the carpet
with your shoes.
Chase Cate is a rising senior English and philosophy student at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. His work focuses on the fallout of trauma and its implications for identity. Cate grew up in Nebraska as the youngest son of a preacher, and quickly realized his distinctiveness from his surroundings. This distinctiveness can be felt in the voice his poems, which invite the reader into the space of personal healing.
The Literary Forest Poetry Magazine 