ERIKA MAILMAN

THE SUBDIVISION UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Each house alike in its frame
Each yard doled out by the HOA
There aren’t really backyards

These are low maintenance
because they are no maintenance

My sister visits and cannot believe
we can see for miles. From the back deck
before the trees matured, one could see
the capitol dome 40 miles away
Our elderly neighbors told us this

But here you won’t
see the stars for the streetlights
The deer are fenced out and though
they leap them handily
they’ll run out of grazing land and subside

Here is your parcel—

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ERIKA MAILMAN IS THE AUTHOR OF THREE HISTORICAL NOVELS UNDER HER REAL NAME, AND A YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY UNDER THE PEN NAME LYNN CARTHAGE. HER MFA IS IN POETRY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, TUCSON, AND SHE’S CURRENTLY A FREELANCE WRITER FOR CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER, TIME OUT, FODOR’S, WASHINGTON POST, ROLLING STONE, LIT HUB, WALL STREET JOURNAL, SMITHSONIAN, DIVERSITY WOMAN, AND MORE.