voila! magic! mcnuggets
at the front door a knock-
knock and bag grab
now alone at the edge
of the long kitchen table
the a/c roars on lukewarm
meat between my teeth
*
voila! magic! blood struggles through
breathing’s become an hourglass
my girlfriend says her dad had a heart
attack at thirty then gave up meat
I press a button the heater burns on
(originally published in Hamline Lit Link, Winter 2019)
11PM and the street is bleak
in this unseasonably cool May
these parking lots are vast
national parks of the suburbs
their Joshua tree streetlights
ubiquitous luminescence
a steady stream of street cars
these wild intractable headlamp
eyes they know where they’re going
that’s what makes it sad everywhere
McDonald’s flags waving half-mast
(originally published in The Tau, Summer 2018)
I am a sitting landfill beef
lettuce special sauce
a sepulchur in my Ford
& in this warm January
the trees are still dead
one eye open I imagine
forests stretching tired
legs & staying silent when it’s time
to speak spring
(originally published in KAIROS, 2017)