Drinking a Rhinegeist Truth

10:33 AM on July 4^th
& if that ain’t some
gunslinging fortune

my drinks have teeth
can’t mix with coffee

I am trying to stay awake
I am trying to stay

a firework of politically conscious
colors

most mornings the soup of ritual

I gnaw at the aluminum’s tab
when my beer has ended

I am not satisfied
no
I am not satisfied

with this ending

(originally published in Datura, Fall 2019)

Cloud

the raindrop
life (transience

is a home)
loneliness

forms
on clear days

rising out
of reach

& always
when you wake

(originally published in Literary Yard, Summer 2018)

I need new faces
clothes drawers
opening
closing

I used to find
spacious greens
county lines
my hometown

I wandered
through the smells
of mom’s scrambled eggs

faucet running
disposal clogged
with garlic

understand
I want to be
a bullet train
memory

I’ll tell my future grandkids
stop moving
opposite
of me

(originally published in Neologism Poetry Journal, Summer 2017)

*Pushcart Prize Nomination