missing
Silver tresses fly wild and old bones bend double as she leans into the wind, wields hammer and chisel against a letter box, rusted shut. The question echoes each blow: How long since they’ve spoken?
missing
Silver tresses fly wild and old bones bend double as she leans into the wind, wields hammer and chisel against a letter box, rusted shut. The question echoes each blow: How long since they’ve spoken?
party line
We found the surprise tied with yellow ribbon, bow hanging loose on the door. Broken glass said the piñata had already burst open, its bulging sides struck with long handles and black bottomed boots. The invitation said Do Not but the first
party line
We found the surprise tied with yellow ribbon, bow hanging loose on the door. Broken glass said the piñata had already burst open, its bulging sides struck with long handles and black bottomed boots. The invitation said Do Not but the first
the rough
Come on, son, pull your head out of the bag. Keep moving. I know it hardly seems fair, the way she slices you. It’s rough how she hooks you, drags you screaming to the bunker. She’s given you the shanks
the rough
Come on, son, pull your head out of the bag. Keep moving. I know it hardly seems fair, the way she slices you. It’s rough how she hooks you, drags you screaming to the bunker. She’s given you the shanks
Limbo
I played barbed wire Limbo today Rusty spur snagged a piece of my shirt Poor old she-cattle might trip on the thread Before she picks up the electric alert
Limbo
I played barbed wire Limbo today Rusty spur snagged a piece of my shirt Poor old she-cattle might trip on the thread Before she picks up the electric alert
epinephrine
[a little roadside poetry emergency] It’s anaphylactic, this shock the poison juice of a forbidden fruit dribbled down my throat so the silver tape constricts til I need a longer sort of breath. Look, just rip off the cap, don’t
epinephrine
[a little roadside poetry emergency] It’s anaphylactic, this shock the poison juice of a forbidden fruit dribbled down my throat so the silver tape constricts til I need a longer sort of breath. Look, just rip off the cap, don’t
trailing
I had a foot out the door when she stopped me, not what she said but how she said it, trailing. She sat at her table, next to a walker and her new friends on the Price is Right blinking
common beans
I hide simple beans in my cupboard. Black, sometimes pinto — suspicious of unspellable gypsies who come and go as they please, one day adorned with an arbitrary z, the next casting it off it like a bitter seed coat, crowing
common beans
I hide simple beans in my cupboard. Black, sometimes pinto — suspicious of unspellable gypsies who come and go as they please, one day adorned with an arbitrary z, the next casting it off it like a bitter seed coat, crowing
please circle one
I thought I’d be eligible for benefits by the time I got done discussing a fellow’s case with Medicare this week. Note to interested parties: It is terribly difficult to send money to a government agency. In response to L.L.
please circle one
I thought I’d be eligible for benefits by the time I got done discussing a fellow’s case with Medicare this week. Note to interested parties: It is terribly difficult to send money to a government agency. In response to L.L.
change
None seemed to feel when the earth turned over and spun the other way Sitting in rooms I wanted to leave I said words I wanted to stifle, heard answers I wanted to swallow like bad medicine spewing back upstream When bedrock pitched
change
None seemed to feel when the earth turned over and spun the other way Sitting in rooms I wanted to leave I said words I wanted to stifle, heard answers I wanted to swallow like bad medicine spewing back upstream When bedrock pitched
breakfast table
She eats fear with morning coffee chunks of ash, black in her mouth worries cinders between delicate fingers mixed with a trickle from her cheek to spread on burnt toast
breakfast table
She eats fear with morning coffee chunks of ash, black in her mouth worries cinders between delicate fingers mixed with a trickle from her cheek to spread on burnt toast
