Raymond Cummings, Spring•Summer, 2017

The Animating Spark
Raymond Cummings

When you turned away the sky fell apart for
just a moment before collecting itself. Doves
quit the refuge of Banaba boughs. Monarchs
descended into a yellow haze of irises and
lilacs. Fireflies slashed out like distant stars.

Jazz & Classical
Raymond Cummings

Here my recorder bore the brunt of the wind.
Night fell debased in chyrons. I’m much more
invested in a casual blues idiom, in melody,
in a rose tucked behind your ear. A pilot light
appeared, inspiring local shadows to frug.

Raymond Cummings resides in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. He is the author of books including Assembling the Lord, Crucial Sprawl, Class Notes, and Vigilante Fluxus. His writing has appeared in SPIN, Pitchfork, Deadspin, Splice Today, and the Baltimore City Paper. Bricolage Bop, his next collection of poetry, will be published independently sometime in 2017.