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]

Bryce Canyon

Looking up every word 

in the long entry

written on the surface

of the noon day moon.

[LSS, 4/8/22]

Pruning Deadwood

Diplomas slipping like fish 

into a bag of rusty tools.

[LSS, 3/31/22] 

Daylight Saving Time

I received the initial images 

from your time zone 

and have spent the day 

folding the extra hour 

into my gloaming ambition.

[LSS, 3/22/22]

Three Days in Early March

One small wave breaking one small stone in one quick moment of perception.

Determine a way to get others on the committee to help with the swimming.

Is this the right way to send a message in a bottle?

[LSS, 3/5/22]

There Is No Bridge

An entire civilization 

of beach stones 

having conversations 

in over-lit bedrooms 

and laundromats.

[LSS, 3/5/22]

 

Self-Portrait with Wall Clock

A new territory 

opened at dawn—

I use a robin’s nest 

for a mailbox, coins 

fall from the sky, 

but there is nothing 

here to buy.

We stayed young 

too long.

[LSS, 3/2/22]

Addresses on Onion Skins

It was the only way to keep track 

of all the mutinies we’d ever staged.

You had yours, I had mine, 

and only the wind to keep us 

informed.

[LSS, 3/2/22]

Betrayal

our pinball machines are dusted with snow
in an alley behind a bar in Oconomowoc
the neon Pabst sign flickers all night long
people we only knew in passing, pass

our loose change rattles around
in that emotional, psychic head space
there must be limits to how many quarters
we can drop, before we go broke

our filed claims lost in bureaucratic labyrinths
foolscap moldering away in metal cabinets
the registrar has no memory, cannot find
our statements, signatures, or photo IDs

our narratives refolded and creased until
the graphite smudges into gray nothingness
those bells, buzzers, and flashing lights
bluster, bluff, and finally betray us

[RK, 3/2/22]