For a job, does it matter what time it is?

She traded stars for sirens, simple days
for those of broken things, a 6 am heart
to name but one ——— single, fluttering

It is what it was————— what it is, what?
what it is, what?————- It is what is was

‍Laine Derr has published interviews with Carl Phillips, Ross Gay, Ted Kooser, and Robert Pinsky. Work has appeared or is forthcoming from EPOCH, The Amistad, Denver Quarterly, ROPES, Prairie Schooner, Chapter House, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere.