B. Sedgwick

FALSE IDENTITY
(or on reading too many mysteries)

There wasn’t a corpse in the trunk

Two stops of realizing it was partly open
Surely, in all the stories, someone had interfered

And how awkward to call 911
From the bank parking lot
All those police cars implying robbery
And not knowing which stop – or our garage –
Was the scene
And did it really involve me at all?
What if, instead of a convenient location
It was an identifiable body
Linked with work or home
Family, friends, chance acquaintances
What could one say?

Of a trunk inhabited only by an old umbrella
And a bit of plastic for transporting plants


B's YouTube video reading of "False Identity":



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B. confesses: "'False Identity' describes the scene which inspired it! I was running errands and realized the trunk of the car was unlatched, although not open. For whatever reason my mind went to 'oh, what if...' and I stopped at the bank to check."

B. SEDGWICK's first poem was published when she was seven and she's been playing with words ever since. In 2013 she founded Spirit Moxie where she writes Conversation posts on how we can make the world a better place. Her recent book Moxie Moves: 10 Easy Ways to Make a Powerful Difference supports this vision. But poetry is her first love and her default writing genre at random coffee shops and bars.