What I Lost

The wristwatch I found missing on the way home from violin lesson.
The wallet that fell out of my pocket when I ran for the streetcar.
The velvet sweater my great uncle had sent from West Germany.

The book I wrote together with my best friend.
The painting my first boyfriend made for me.
The box of journals I shipped overseas.

The college friends who did not keep in touch.
The choir where we sang Brahms and Bach.
The country and the culture of my ancestors.

The innocence of childhood.
The feeling of having roots.
The sense of purpose.

My cat Cricket.
Grandma.
Dad.

Agnes Vojta grew up in Germany and now lives in Rolla, Missouri where she teaches physics at Missouri S&T and hikes the Ozarks. She is the author of Porous Land, The Eden of Perhaps, and A Coracle for Dreams (Spartan Press) and of a chapter in Wild Muse: Ozarks Nature Poetry (Cornerpost Press, 2022.) Her collection Love Song to Gravity is forthcoming from Stubborn Mule Press in spring 2025.Agnes is associate editor of Thimble Literary Magazine and host of the Poetry at the Pub reading series in Rolla. Her poems have appeared in a variety of magazines; you can read some of them on her website agnesvojta.com.