Stephen D. Rogers

PUBLIC ACCESS

He crosses the street after school to the library
Where he signs up for a computer
Where he waits, gray backpack tucked between his legs
Until his turn comes
And he sees his mother
Staring back from her booking photograph
Telling him he's loved
Until the screen blanks
He presses the space bar
To bring her back.


Stephen reads "Public Access":



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Stephen confesses: "This poem was not so much inspired as stolen. I'd gone to the library to write, and while passing the public-access computers, I saw a boy of about eight staring at a booking photo. He and she looked similar enough to be related, and my heart broke."

STEPHEN D. ROGERS is the author of Shot to Death, Three-Minute Mysteries, and more than eight hundred shorter works. His website, www.StephenDRogers.com, includes a list of new and upcoming titles as well as other timely information.