Asking where
the ladder led
was stupid
you said up
to the roof
and of course
it does
I guess I’m
saying we both
work at Panera
and when
thinking about
my prospects
they are not high
because if I were
to grab a rung
and lift myself up
I would probably
fall but if I didn’t
the locked door
at the top means
I’d struggle for an
unspectacular view
(originally published in Fleas on the Dog, Summer 2020)
Month: July 2024
Spies
My paranoia speaks to me:
If you can’t tell me you bought
a nice shirt, what else are you
hiding? I walked outside
this morning to see crows
perched on power lines.
It’s the middle of winter
and this hemisphere is
supposed to be birdless.
And I read surveillance is
on the rise, that I should shine
my flashlight in the rooms
of AirBnBs and seek
a strange reflection.
But I can’t stop looking
at myself in the mirror.
I’m manufactured– hair
gelled, clothes pressed.
In the reflected light I
can’t find myself, just
a strange reflection.
(originally published in White Wall Review, Winter 2021)
Write Everything
write a waterfall eroding the sediment of past
words to drip off tongue burn in the crinkle
crackle of sandpaper rocks white walls you speak
against refuse to listen ears plugged with pink
plastic unsustainable their space your space
(originally published in Spinozablue, Fall 2022)