Sound of the preschool
teacher’s stapler, affixing
cardboard apples to the wall.
Monthly Archives: August 2011
Witches of the Closet
New co-worker asks
my astrological sign;
relieved she did first!
Sunday Times
Three of us at the
kitchen table, reading different
pages of the paper.
Something Blues
Ducking out of the
church to go to a sex shop.
The bride needs a garter!
Emotional Rehearsal
Walking down the aisle,
practicing her steps, the bride-
to-be causes tears.
Wet Hair
Gentrified neighborhood.
Everyone in the coffee shop
smells like Aveda.
Bellevue Belle
Woman in business
suit shields the sun from her face
with a portfolio.
Strangers Surround
Open an email
with good news, look around. There’s
no one I can tell.
Mellon Collie
Listening to love-
gone-wrong songs while writing
wedding vows for my friend.
Avocado Roll
Sushi moving on
a conveyor belt, a man and
I eying the same roll.
First Time
Pour pickling brine
into the jar of green beans,
hope I’m doing it right.
Encouraging Words
Bicyclist passing
me, pedaling uphill, says,
“Don’t stop now! You’ve come so far!”
Proper Priorities
Step out of the line
for the bathroom, run to the floor
when “Boys Don’t Cry” starts.
Gets Real
Receive awful news
before eating dinner: Every
bite of salad’s painful.
Early Halloween
Lying down at the park.
A kite shaped like a bat floats
above me, gets closer.
Simple Solution
At the copy shop,
the bathroom door is held shut
with a rubber band.
Scene Change
Filing my nails down
at the lake. Rather file them
outdoors than indoors.
Real Gore
On the bathroom floor
at the goth dance party: drops
of blood. Now it’s goth.
Common Concern
Formally introduce
myself to the neighbor, bond
about raccoon trouble.
Locating Device
Locate the house show
by a group of kids outside,
dressed weird, smoking.
Creative Visualization
Each time the shovel
strikes the soil I think of
something I dislike.
In Training
Man walking down the
sidewalk doing bicep curls
with his grocery sacks.
Purple Gems
Neighbor’s salal berries
go unpicked. Do the neighbors
even know they’re edible?
Stink Season
The garbage, warmed in
the sun, surrounded by flies, smells
brutal in summer.
Dear Daaaaad
Try not to wake up
the neighbors singing “Happy
Birthday” into my phone.
Feminist Existence
Walking out on a
misogynist comic is
easy when you’re me.
Facial Recognition
On a packed dance floor.
No one I know. Then, in the
corner: Jessica?!
Tangle of Light
Into the lake,
feeling adventurous ’til
the seaweed appears.
Old Spice
Every other man
on the street, sweating, smells like
my ninth grade boyfriend.
Towel Scooters
Moving toward the last
of the sunlight, slowly, ’til
we reach the lake’s edge.
Love is All Around
On the phone with Dad
when I spot two friends on the street.
Friends and family plan.
