I Came In

I came in through the side door

sparrow singing in a spruce tree

blue

ground frozen

dog shit and chain

I came in to wool

needles clicking

carpet stains

antiques and disco

dancing alone when

the car was gone

I came in and went upstairs

comma

Michelangelo in a heavy book

dog-chewed

Taos Mountain

not yet there

here

spinning show tunes

from the library

I came in to my mother’s geraniums

in cardboard boxes

taken down shaken

in the dark

three was my favourite number

is

half moon

half circle

I came in to heat through January registers

Orion a thing I learned

in Girl Guides for a badge

Hey Diddle Diddle

put away

and rust-shag basement rug piano

Bach John Lennon Joni

Joan Baez singing me upstairs

main-floor dog howl

I came in to fry sandwiches

mix mayo and mustard

bake oatmeal cookies

brake

before hitting the back of the garage

with the family car

Mercury Monarch

Chevrolet Caprice

stir drinks

Saturday morning sniffs—

night-aged leftover inches of liquor

slurps swerves

idylls

I came in to the hunter

lying on a bed upstairs

Holly Hobbie quilt

James Dean life-sized poster

white laminate dresser

mirror

red mask and rattle

scratches in the wood

depressions

in the off-white pile

I came in dripping

freezing rain melting

opened the hall closet

and removed my

chardonnay

twenty-sixer of vodka

leg warmers jazz pants

Steinbeck spine cracked

open

I came in to green olives and moccasins

I wished were different

Thor-split sky

sparks

and merci for that stratus.

Thick. Grove.

I came in to Mars and high C

and star fruit

I’d never eaten before

I came in to desire

Sandalphon angel of mind

and I sought fire

in the wetlands

bridge

crow-lovely sunflowers

moving out

the meanings of cuff

of kites.

Air-ascended boot.

I left deer-tracks on the snow

and never came back.

Robin Blackburn McBride is the author of a novel, The Shining Fragments, and a volume of poetry, In Green, both published by Guernica Editions. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in a variety of North American literary magazines, most recently in flo. Robin's latest novel, River of Dreams, is forthcoming with Guernica in 2026.