Those nerves repair and center out,
their particles the participants
of clotted fluid crosshatching,
partitioned by the spurned partisan lips
of a cut that deeply parts the skin
in a pursing wound.
Papercut, a still and stringent bite,
from a paper doll, manila hide,
is how the slit is worked through cutis,
the handling of a miniature made in folds.
The manner of this healing […]
i wish i could
show you the true contents of my world
and how i see the sky
i would show you how it feels
to lie on a beach
and curl up in the sand
i would let you see why the words
keep me awake at night
and why i long to be embraced
and how cold your teeth feel
against my neck
i […]
one day on the street in Saskatoon
an old indian with a tired face
asks me to buy a drink
for a child.
i think for a minute, say okay.
i want to be good, you know.
i go into the store.
the child is small,
face needs washing,
eyes keep flitting about.
he wants pop, but i insist on juice.
on the way back outside […]
for Graham
They’ll ask if you have a thief’s heart,
a knife hidden in your boot,
something else you’d rather do.
I myself am bad at riddles,
but before you answer,
consider just how you’ll feel
when the towers begin to rise
and the sky turns impossible colors
from all the ash in the air.
~ Howie Good
Howie Good, a journalism professor at SUNY New […]
what do we do
with the fish
when it dies
the child asked
from his seat
behind me
in the canoe
his grip tightened
on the green and pink
plastic rod
as he cast the barbed line out
over the brown creek
my thoughts drifted
to the lake last summer
the rainbow trout
tossed on the grass
the tail flaps
gills open, close
then lift once more
shimmering shades of
sunset on the scales
dim to […]
