I want my mouth
over anywhere
your mouth has been
there is a frozen
chocolate milkshake
in the freezer
with your straw
stuck in it like
a lit cigarette
I burn for you
but the cup is an
icicle a block
of crystal pellets
melting on the purple
island of my palm
(originally published in Perceptions Magazine, Summer 2022)
The wave at the shore
was followed by blood
and flame. California singes
itself, Thousand Oaks
surrounded by smoke
clouds rising
into a blanket, smothering,
like the chorus
assembling on our streets–
the world is dying,
but first our friends
and neighbors,
how this bloodshed
has been on the fringe
of our existence until
it’s not, it’s everywhere–
down the road, polluting
our hope, it seemed
everyone
we knew cast a vote
to turn the world
blue
so how do we
drown the flames?
(originally published in Capsule Stories, Fall 2020)