Strong claws Hard shell Tiny arms feed my Sharp mouth As I devour tender tidbits An itch on my back Then my leg Then everywhere A rising fire Ocean-bottom pressure builds Within me A crack Breaks me open A small relief Jerking and twisting From my petrified suit Like escaping a glue trap Pulling and … Read moreBigger Not Better
Basalt boulders pried from farmland Shouldered by optimistic mid-century Kiwanis Under a high desert sky Stacked and cemented An outsized barbecue Centrepoint of a scorched-earth park Tolerable only twice a year During equinox Otherwise too hot too cold too windy for any except An Andean mummy Grey wooden picnic tables splintering and brittle Easy pickings for wasps Cheerfully nesting under … Read morePark for the Undeterred
A small slice in the fruit A foothold for my thumbnail To softly peel skin from flesh An aromatic spray of oil Catches the light Digging under the navel Prying until the central strand of pith Pops Resonating into the fruity sphere Careful progress preserves The rind as a ribbon A sweet-smelling cloak Rumpled on … Read moreNothing(ness) Rhymes With Orange
My book of days and weeks and months Only reads backwards For me, at least It’s all in there Birth, living, death Time ticks I make my way Just another protagonist Unable to see beyond the now Which makes every day A new adventure If adventure is going into the unknown Where anything and nothing … Read moreTime’s Person of the Moment
Reaching out To those hurt by Life’s Big Bad moments Feels like putting my hand In a blender What to say What to do Google poems About loss Not much help Flip through Emily Post To learn the proper manners So sorry for your loss Feels colorless And small Like canned peas I’m also not … Read moreDon’t Speak
Hoary frill Of albino thorns On brittle twigs Spear tips of white Serrate blades of grass Breath uncurls Thin vapor lingers A translucent scarf Stillness No bird chirp No dog bark Soft earth turned to stone Needles of cold Press deeper into skin Pale sky Cloudless Eyes slapped by Blinding white sun Brings a thin … Read moreWalking on the Moon
I want to open a restaurant. Where? Halfway between Boise and Lucky Peak. What’s the name? The Crow Inn. So, it’s a motel? No. That’s sort of confusing. Maybe you’re right. I’ll call it Ben’s Crow Inn. What’s the specialty? Specialty? Yes. Why do people stop? I’m going to serve clams. Clams? In the desert? … Read moreRisky Business
Human rights influencer Forty-thousand overnight likes Should be more Harder to stay fit Since she turned twenty-two Sponsors Amnesty International The Red Cross As demanding as Any for-profit corporation If nobody sees it Nobody gets the help Her agent says Share the tragedies But skim the disaster Exhibit that beach body In exotic Though tragic … Read moreThumbs Up for Human Rights
It was mid-December, and the morning announcements spoke of a lunch hour pep rally for the upcoming basketball game. They also mentioned the judging of the annual Christmas Door Decorating Contest at the end of the week in which each homeroom decorated their door to reflect a Christmas theme. My homeroom was choir, and my … Read morePep Rally Poison
1918 Midwestern farm bank Greek revival In white brick Oversized windows Brightened the space Until in 1929 Everything went dark Decades later Out of bankruptcy limbo A ready return to the marketplace A barber college Then an upholstery shop A daycare A carpet store A judo studio A vape shop Until in the go-go Subprime … Read moreThe Indignity of Aging