Bee Sting
The bee on the handle
stung me, and the pain multiplied.
I hurled the pail and left the bee
to life or death, I don’t know which.
First Responders
The day I finally rose staggering
from our bed of kryptonite,
gnawed free from the anchor
that dragged its own boat down
with it, and walked out,
you stopped me in the drive
On Learning that Woodpeckers Don’t Have Shock-Absorbing Skulls
Of course they don’t. Of course they optimize
the force that they apply with every blow.
What Next, What Next?
We are all the children of what
our former lives have been. Our
parents were powerful but they are
gone somewhere we cannot know.
On My First Day of Kindergarten
i picked a rose for my bus driver
from the bushes outside of my older
brother’s window. it was pink and red
like the deer split beside me
at the end of the driveway,
reeking of fresh cut
grass.
Ain’t My Penny No More
In a small town
somewhere South
somewhere East
where there were more corn
and more green beans
than people,
I asked my brother
about his dreams.