For L, To Depart
She said, Mother lives are absorbing these boys These boys I've been with You could hear the sounds of traffic or was it wind— Is it absorbed, what is the word close to stolen As it describes fireflies—that slow going up, down And the night is peaceful— There's a streetlight there, my brother waiting under it
Scales
He said, You're not going to joke these problems away Criminals in a kid's life That's at least what industry knowledge has shown— It was easy to understand when Eminem sampled Dream On The cupids moving from did someone push the mobile Or is it the air conditioning— Did I wake up so uneasy at times Despite the neighbors' puppies, songbirds on the balcony
In the Pines
A squirrel in the roof is out of sequence with the very difficult Back and forth, i.e., pecans, the mountain Quick white belly Rainbowshaped jumps, not delinquent, not afraid He said, There's nesting material I could try to get rid of— If he chewed the wire of that floodlight the nesting material's a fire hazard— His name is buried under the feathers but not gone It keeps waking me up—the bad house inside my better one
11-41
Go with yes, our wellness has held, not counting the glue— I had a dream my dog was running by the street, that kind of worry But it was not the cars it was the storm It was about to rain If you don't believe me, look—this is the shape of rising water Police at the door This house where the sewer line runs right up underneath
Madison Warren
She said, You can tell he doesn't unfold that flag a lot The square pleats all over it Probably hides it in a glove compartment She said, If he kept it in his house it wouldn't be so folded We talked about heraldry vs. proclamation— Is it only exterior or does it bend inward Thinking about that house and who is inside it And the light of the house and the need for houses
Brendan Sherry lives in Greeneville, TN. Recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry Northwest, New South, Birdfeast, Guesthouse, and elsewhere.
