#15 Spring•Summer 2018
Janet Locke, Two Poems
Attention
Janet Locke
The microwave clock
tells me I’m running late,
even though it runs slow.
So also say my cell phone,
my watch, and my wall clock.
A good friend was late for
everything, and she was perfect Continue reading “Janet Locke, Two Poems”
Tom Montag, Early Spring
Early Spring
Tom Montag
The wind has
let down the sky.
Small birds fly
into afternoon.
We are leaving
winter behind.
The birds know it.
We know it.
All the green things
have been told, though
not all of them
believe it yet. Continue reading “Tom Montag, Early Spring”
Michael T. Young, Evidence of Things Unseen
Evidence of Things Unseen
Michael T. Young
At first a scratch behind the wall.
Swelling pipes? Then
streamers of insulation
behind the toilet, frayed
carpet threads near baseboard molding.
Refresh the traps, clean out
the old peanut butter bait,
green and hard in the bowls.
Rats take days to grow comfortable
with changes in the room.
But on a rainy night,
when there’s little to feed on, a snap
in the dark. In the morning, I find
the limp, mud-colored
body of our suspicions.
There’s relief, an easing of defenses, Continue reading “Michael T. Young, Evidence of Things Unseen”
Michelle Reale, Liberation Army
Liberation Army
Michelle Reale
Well, you know, it’s really been, you know, quite a trip for me.
—Patty Hearst
Everything pointed to survival. I was Patty Hearst with a loaded gun,
but really, more like meringue: all flourish with little substance.
The cinnamon I craved was dark as peat, still, I sprinkled it over everything.
My task was subjective. I tied the Gordian knot and focused on digestion.
The suppression of the lump in my throat was a collaborative effort.
My peripheral vision has failed me more than once, my words concise in a clutch. Continue reading “Michelle Reale, Liberation Army”
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