the town’s storyteller often used the word outwith
instead of outside
he claimed to have picked up
from Scottish and Yorkshire volunteers
now
the Garden’s shrinking around us
and there’s no other place left to live
we often say outwith among ourselves
concerning where
we’re going to find ourselves
soon
J.S. O’Keefe has published over three hundred short stories and poems in print and online literary magazines. See more at his website.