Todd Osborne holds an MFA in poetry from Oklahoma State University. His poems have previously appeared at The Missouri Review, Big Muddy, Hobart, Juked, and elsewhere.
A History of Decks
Deck is gone Mom texts to me and Michelle,
and shortly after a photo of the ground outside
the back door, empty of anything but a few
wooden posts, time passing. It is strange
to remember the last time this happened,
maybe 20 years ago, maybe 15, either way
enough to make the new deck warranted,
enough to make me nostalgic. My mother
cleaning out my old bedroom, and Michelle’s
too, and a step-ladder leading up to the back door,
and nothing more. If one wanted, a step into
sky; if one wanted, anything at all.