Trenches
mud-caked boots the veteran kneels in a newly planted field The leeks look so scrawny now, weak, vulnerable. But […]
Where We Are Most Tender
Mostly love is about grunt work,
heaving unwieldy pieces of furniture
up a trackless mountain …
Self-Portrait Surrounded by Doves
I want to raise white rock doves
like the couple I read about who breed them
for weddings and especially for funerals.
The Lifeguard Tower, Closed for Winter
See that matador in the pastel colors
of light. He strikes a fine figure ready
to take on a bullfight. It might take
a moment to notice, beyond the blue swirl
of cape, his weapons are merely scissors
and a comb.
After the Overdose
There was snow on the ground when they put my brother’s bedframe out on the curb. The next morning, both were gone.
Political Speech
Democracy in America, she said,
has always been aspirational,
the bronze bell of its summons
rung by noble oligarchs
with blood on their soft white hands—