Spasticsnap

a point of interest in the dark drawing an eye that goes out

gray day black cat brown coffee

my power.

when u write follow de light

is carousels today.

and birds are just knives in the air

licking the back of the peach skin

something is burrowing in

so many grow like bonsai wanting someone else to shape them

and god bless the construction work that drowns out the lyrics sung by my neighbor which keep sneaking into this essay due tomorrow

people rubbing my copper hair as if it were a lucky penny and they could pinch a piece off or watch me tarnish

I don’t want this moment to last forever I want to go home and take these shoes off

or pay me.

third place winners, death, old age and us, of course

take your glasses off, you say and let my admiration guide you off this steep cliff

here we have our pleasure-knives the ones we buy to take delight in balanced like we never were sleek + sharp + always sure

drink black coffee for strong, honest nonfiction add cream for every pretty lie eat a banana to channel the gods of comedy ask a neighbor to add a secret ingredient to your tea when writing mysteries the goddess of science fiction likes weird smoothies eat a rose petal to flirt with the muse of romance drama needs more coffee and cream melodrama: a banana drenched in coffee