The Wallet Explaining
Evanston, Illinois
The Wallet: Empty
Empty
Empty
The Lake: Fall. Fall.
The Poster: Missing: Last Seen Saturday. Party with lots of. Lost contact en route to. En route to
really great career (engineer/pre-med). En route to a bathroom for each child.
The Parents: He would never
The Friends: We called after losing him—he must have collapsed. He must have been kidnapped. He must be trying to escape.
He must be trapped somewhere.
He must be unable to escape.
He wanted to go to the next party.
He was right behind us.
The Parents: He wanted to—he was right behind us—
The Lake: He wanted to go to the next party.
Wendy Vardaman (wendyvardaman.com, @wendylvardaman) is the author of Obstructed View, co-editor of four anthologies, including Echolocations, Poets Map Madison and Local Ground(s)—Midwest Poetics, co-editor of Verse Wisconsin (versewisconsin.org), and co-founder of Cowfeather Press (cowfeatherpress.org). One of Madison, Wisconsin’s two Poets Laureate (2012-2015), she has three adult children and has never owned a car.
Portage Magazine 
