Work
The workmen over and above the fence
fit bricks, lift mortar, slap it accurately
in place. Guilty by sitting idle, I
imagine they envy my luxury
of doing nothing until I remember
Poems
Obiter Dicta
Those for whom no ritual applies,
no text supplies the purpose of a day,
no day becomes the rock on which we stand,
no angel trumpets guidance from a star,
no star determines who we really are
The Boardroom at the Edge of the Field
Image: “Self-Portrait as a Prep School Llama” by James Valvis. “The Boardroom at the Edge of the Field” was written by Caiti Quatmann for Rattle’s Ekphrastic Challenge, December 2024, and selected as the Editor’s Choice.
The Care and Feeding of Betta Fish
In those pin-drop days after divorce, my mother
would not enter the kitchen. Yolk yellow and wild,
it became jungle in its yokeless state
as the bay windows let in the dark, the granite countertops glinting
stars in airless heavens. And on those counters,
sat a fish tank.
Vultures in Hillsborough, NC
When they come, they bring the fearful dark,
like English majors looking for work,
feather-caped, bare-faced in red or black.