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# Respite
- URL: https://www.merionwest.com/respite/
- Published: 2026-08-25T14:51:33.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-25T16:56:29.000Z
- Author: Austin Allen James
- Tags: Poetry, Arts

> Of all the places to end up

> I find myself here,

> in this house with this yard.

> 

> My best years were given away

> to someone whose name

> I refuse to Google.

> 

> I consider hanging the flag

> upside down but would rather

> not make a thing of it.

> 

> Sunlight on the grass catches an insect

> glittering like nail polish, a tiny

> emerald roving and purposeful.

> 

> I photograph it

> and the Internet informs me

> it’s a six-spotted tiger beetle.

> 

> As soon as I learn what it is

> its wings snap open

> and I never see it again.

### Dan Wiencek is a poet, critic, and humorist who lives in Minneapolis. His first collection of poems, [*Routes Between Raindrops*](https://www.firstmatterpress.org/routes-between-raindops.html?ref=merionwest.com), is available from First Matter Press.