on back porch with pounding
rain puddles amass you ask
advice an offer a hornet
nest in the gutter we invite
friends over my memory
short my throat closed to
organ tunes in harmony
answers inside aluminum
you hand me your phone
say look another malady
the dirt clogged drain
for pests to fester in
(originally published in Taj Mahal Review, Winter 2022)
Waking up early makes me important.
Now I must find something important
to say. The less I write the more that flows
when I sit down. No audience.
Always myself. Often, I find a line
on the wall and trace its path to the end.
A spider ambled across my desk last week
and like my cat I still expect it there.
The other day a centipede sprinted
into my pile of laundry on carpet
and I just haven’t worn clothes since.
Sometimes it’s better to wear no legs
when the alternative is too many.
(originally published in Studio One, Spring 2021)
shining
in the sunlight
of our driveway
I go inside
to tell Dad
come see
what
I
found
no hesitation:
he squishes
its golden
guts out
a thing like
that
he says
is nothing
more
than a nuisance
but I keep
thinking
about that beetle
impossibly one
of a kind
and today
I watched
a boring
black
beetle
scurrying
across
the pavement
of Goodale Park
and disappear
into grass
and I thought
the ground
is teeming
with beetles
if I just dig
a hole
deep enough
I might
be able
to apologize
(originally published in Pouch, Fall 2018)
Fill the cracks so the ants can’t infest.
This is the poison applied for feeding:
urine-yellow icky glue sealing lips
to take home to another body. Sometimes
words stick where I open my mouth–
the crevice between us not letting you in.
I, too, have brought small gifts back
underground thinking them an olive
branch. Each attempt kills one way
or another. Malignant misinterpretations.
I return with this pellet of words.
This killing I never meant to witness.
(originally published in Abstract Magazine, Fall 2017)
suck in the vacuous space
separating the lines of the
ceiling and the hard cross
of vagary carpet mites –
wave the dueling paintbrushes
until the rims break but ever
so coquettishly whisk
the centipede eyelashes –
twist the crescent mouth to hark
the worthy obeisance of
patriot songs in a way that
conducts mosquito perseverance –
patch the augered suitcase leaking
carrot water but do it so
the bullish cockroach shells
remain intact and walking –
reassure her that the future
is a flowing faucet unhinged
like the music of the Grecian
harmonica in gathered cicadas –
(originally published in Euphemism – Vol. 11, Issue 1)
Ride winds
swiftly weaving,
untethered by
crickets’ chirping,
owls’ hoots,
feet rustling
in wet grass.
(initially published in Halcyon Magazine, Fall 2014)
