This winter I’m trying to find satisfaction in scratching my back on the corner of the fireplace that I can’t repay. A solid outline could solve all my problems but out in the cold first I must learn to be disciplined enough to leave the skin on the bear. I’m calibrating this flaky disgorge; staplers … Continue reading Snow Sticks Around
Do not give me roses: delicate tissue-thin skin withering where strewn down wedding aisles. Petal promises arranged in crystal vases. The ferocious heat of me with you too easily swallows scarlett blooms. Give me instead a cactus. A fearless behemoth, a prickled bastion for our battered hearts. A new arm sprouting when life strays from … Continue reading El Cardón
It takes a few seconds to train spiders to travel in my suitcase. I trust the bent legs will protect me from ancestral pollens, suggest a design for my next tattoo. I have faith piped in music will land this plane and the long horizon of farm folk looking up will note our chem trail … Continue reading Homecoming King
You dropped your backpack In my kitchen. Everything Spilled out and scattered Across the linoleum: Pencils, ChapStick, Candy wrappers And a dog-eared copy of One Hundred Years of Solitude. These became the contents Of my dreams. — J.R. BARNER J.R. Barner is a writer, teacher, and musician living … Continue reading And I Never Stopped Dreaming
I’m burning twenties like a kid with ants in his pants and a magnifying glass. Memories of Hendrix in a rainbow shirt glance off the refrigerator magnets in a ricochet blaze of Saturday sun between seasonal showers. In each life a senator will betray a Caesar, a song will dictate loyalty and a serious contender … Continue reading Inflation Is A Flagrant One
Blindness did not deter him from shuffling every day down the path along the Canal at Buckeye Lake to Harry's Bar for a few beers, white cane, a gift from the Lions Club, extended in front of him like a giant ant feeler. Perpetual attire consisted of shirt, pants, Romeo slippers and soiled cardigan. He … Continue reading Grandpa Mohr
Sitting here at the dining room table sun bouncing and shifting through the curtains with sleep still left in the panes — wide-eyes gaze at Farview Park. Some Du-ragged, some hooded, sagging pants with creaseless Jordans Kings and Queens spring and splash on the half court. A white tee hulks a half-moon chuck from behind … Continue reading After the Virus, Royalty Came Back to Rule the Land
My youngest daughter requests facts. Floral-printed cards litter the counter, attempting to temper our loss with calligraphy in pastel hues. Grief is a journey, curved letters proclaim. But no map exists for this dark forest. No charted stars beckon from the endless, inky night. Trail markers blur; the path doubles back on itself, creating an … Continue reading While Seeking to Understand Her Brother’s Death
I wake up dreaming, undress myself to go out into the world. Cars are being driven in the ditches; the roads are all empty. On the sidewalks, dogs are walking their owners on a short leash, and a thoughtful bee just returned pollen to a weed. I try to get my boyfriend to look outside … Continue reading I Wake Up Dreaming, Undress Myself
I worry about: gardeners spading through the worm's afterlife ghost geese tormenting the park's clairvoyant toddlers daffodils mown down, lingering to announce spring the after-death hive-mind of army ants a river of unfinished business the size of the world — letters unsent — words unsaid tumbling over the edge if they go anywhere, how can … Continue reading Alternate Hauntings