Check Any Boxes That Apply

you would think honey in the tea sweetens the day

or that manual labor sharpens the mind

that a tacit agreement is enforceable when shove comes to shove

you would think a black racer snake understands

the hardware cloth nailed across the lower edge of the gate

how the garden only contains aphids

not worth the trouble

you would think passing fascination in natural phenomena would fade

of course it fades

each seashell, rock, mushroom, leaf, bird

turns to artifacts overnight

you would think I would stop caring

you would be correct

[RK, 5/15/22]

Lovely Ashes

Falling asleep in a six-year-old synthetic shirt meant for

hipsters exercising on weekends

fluorescent orange, looks-brand-new

I LOL and imagine the end

slid into the crematorium fire

wrapped in impossible polymer chains

[RK, 5/15/22]

The Wow Signal

Here’s the gap between

            mycelium and fruiting body

            whirlybird maples seeds and pancakes

            almost homonyms selfish and shellfish

            Grand Canyon and caesura

Here’s the moment

            you cross that cable suspension bridge

            find a dressy hat worthy of your intent          

            channel Wile E. Coyote and order

            ACME products online

Use your scant knowledge of western philosophy

            as a sword and a shield

[RK, 5/15/22]

April is the Second Cruelest Month

I’ve been remiss with that and this

located the source of my sinus pounding

solved all the crosswords in the day’s gaps

flipped conundrums like pancakes

stacked in peculiar tilted piles

the leaning tower of pancakes!

its not the hip, but the gluteus maximus,

gluteus medius, quadriceps lacking that certain

je ne sais quoi, once gathered in abundance

[RK, 5/15/22]

Ode to the American Oystercatcher

thy long, orange, dagger-shaped bill and beady eye

pink legs with toes spread wide beneath the sky

scampered, hopped, sauntered across the neap tide sand

owner of all you survey, minus broken shells on the strand

 

here’s the shingle, you inveigle your way past the last of summer’s tourists, 

snowbirds lacking words for the splendor of your tender philosophy

[RK, 5/15/22]

Threads

if you read this please recall

time spent by the lake, our placid

yet hurried, uncertain grasping for

elusive, intangible experiences, how they

unraveled for the first time and

how we lost the threads, not knowing

it was all that held us together

[RK, 5/15/22]