then, I had my hands chock-full of death. I
look both ways and it's clear so I cross, then
do the same the other way, with the news,
good and bad, in my grip. But it's nothing

to the truth. I go back to Caesar's grave
and stand before it. Good boy, I say. Good.

Gale Acuff's poetry has appeared in Ascent, Descant, Worcester Review, Poem, South Dakota Review, and many other journals; he has authored three books of poetry: Buffalo Nickel, The Weight of the World, and
The Story of My Lives. He has taught university English in the U.S., China, and the Palestinian West Bank.