Long walk through ravine
Deep in shushing dry leaves
Stegosaurus chalked on the walls
Whose hands made these?
*Calling the cops on a man who captured his wife
Put her in a collar and staked her to the ground
Call the cops but where am I?
What is the address? The address? The address?
Breathe.
But then she was gone, and I offered to clean up his mess
*Old sheds made of stone and dirt foundations
Sweeping dirt and leaves, broken glass
Because I wanted to help
Magazines piled and filed, labeled in boxes
But I wanted to help
Teaching my Littleson, crouched on the floor
What order means.
*Running outside in a light summer rain
Granite sky shifting,
Barefoot on driveway rocks running
Following the black bird but bird means small
Black creature too big to fly perched in a tree
I just wanted to see, but he is hid.
*His kiss was lipless and unpresent
No matter how hard I pressed
I put a condom on him that I pulled from my mattress
But he said
No
No
No
Like that Winehouse song,
so I left him and dressed and ran outside in the rain.
Barefoot in a dusty parking lot,
A mosquito riot, I can’t breathe.
A convenient store, they knew what I was there for.
I picked through magazines, listening to a mother not complain
About her baby who was trying not to die.