Conspiracy
 
horsefly, deerfly, wasp, velvet ant?
a sting barely felt on the face
the skin around my eye swells
that ‘old man eye bag’ more noticeable
not mononucleosis or conjunctivitis
just an insect sting, minor infection, or
periorbital edema from allergies
 
or was it from plucking and eating
wild yellow plums, which Wikipedia
tells me contain hydrocyanic acid
another name for hydrogen cyanide
once used in Zyklon B in Germany
and in the execution of prisoners
in the United States
 
look in the mirror at the imagined twenty-five
year old man, my imagination shattered
in candid smart phone photos and
short amateur video clips
where eye bags, spare bicycle tire,
receding hairline, invisible arthritis
and hypertension conspire
 
[RK, 8/28/22]
 
 
 
Horse
 
 
in 1989 we rode mountain bikes through Moon Valley north of Phoenix
the desert sparse with strawberry hedgehog cactus, jumping cholla, and palo verde
water and lunch were taken in the shade of a massive saguaro cactus
 
a peculiar buzzing that sounded like cars on the distant highway, but was not
an abandoned pit in the middle of nowhere, excavated for whatever purpose
the horse carcass was identifiable, as was the buzzing of thousands of houseflies
 
one hundred five Fahrenheit, the sun was a comforting part of the summer
drying us out without making us overheated and dizzy, how this was possible
is a sweet mystery I no longer wish to unravel. It just was.
 
[RK, 8/28/22]