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One Poem by JoAnna Scandiffio
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I don’t go back
into the past searching
for the lost button
in fact I don’t remember
having lost a button
or if there was a button
on a red coat I wore
one winter when I met him
at the old library the one
they tore down to build
a sandwich shop
I used to love to eat
sandwiches there
the crust on the bread
was so rich that I only
wanted the bread
but you can go back
and find him the boy
who was young once
or the red coat
with the high collar
or the baker
who made bread taste like cake
who knows
you may find
a silver button
worth more than gold
or a recipe for wanting less
JoAnna Scandiffio is a poet, gemologist, and educator living in San Francisco. Her poems move the way light passes through stone. Her work can be found in Masque & Spectacle, Necessity is a Mother, and Sugared Water, among others.
Photo Credits: Walker Evans, photographer (American, 1903–1975), Washroom in the Dog Run of the Burroughs Home, Hale County, Alabama, American, 1936, Gelatin silver print. Courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.
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