Care Package

Corners leaking grease, the box  
arrived: a torn paper bag inside  
had spilled popcorn, coating everything— 

Chicago magnet, tub of Nutella, poetry  
books, photos from the wedding I’d missed,  
your letter, which I opened and read with oily hands. 

Lifting the crinkled envelope to my face, I sniffed.  
Had the scent of home somehow  
stowed away here—beneath that of  

butter, cardboard—or did I in the act 
fool myself, 
believing we were again 

breathing, briefly,  
from the same space of air?  

I began to eat. I did not share. 

ZACH JEPSEN

Zach Jepsen is a North Carolina poet living outside of Charlotte with his wife and daughter. He earned his master’s degree in poetry through Warren Wilson College’s MFA Program for Writers and is a member of the Charlotte Lit community. He is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.