Closed

Ulf Kirchdorfer

April 2, 2023


Open. A sign of hope

to get liquor or beer,


a warm place to be

with other lonely hearts.


What does it mean

to open your heart


to the Lord? Is he

going to come


and perform heart 

surgery or just do


one of those special-

effects moves


and reside in your

aging body


and give you hope

when you drag


yourself to another

doctor’s visit.


Open. Closed. 

Open. Closed.

We are not here for you.

Ulf Kirchdorfer grew up in Texas before entering exile in Georgia, mandated by “demand” for English professors. He spends much of his time photographing birds. He has published books of poems with Lamar Literary UP and frequented the Texas-based journals Amarillo Bay, Borderlands, Concho River Review, descant, the Texas Observer, RE:AL, and others. Outside of Texas, his work has found lodging in Poetry Daily, Harvard Review, and Rolling Stone magazine.

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