Come this one time,  
and that will be 
enough. 
Say hi 
and stay a bit. 
Your mother 
needs you.
She’s preparing 
this year 
just for you. 

It doesn’t have
to be long.
What do they say?
Just show your face. 

I want to reintroduce 
you to your cousins, 
and Uncle Don. 
Just for a minute. 
Mom needs a 
picture. 

Don’t worry about 
getting
her attention. 
She’ll be watching, 
smiling at 
her lovely baby. 

---

Matthew Sorrento is editor of Retreats from Oblivion: The Journal of NoirCon and Film International. His poetry has appeared in The Five-Two and The Ekphrastic Review. He teaches film studies at Rutgers-Camden and Temple University, and his latest book is David Fincher’s Zodiac (FDU Press), co-edited with David Ryan. 

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If you would like to be part of The Chamber Magazine family, follow this link to the submissions guidelines. If you like more mainstream fiction and poetry with a rural setting and addressing rural themes, you may also want to check out Rural Fiction Magazine. 

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