Month: July 2016

disqualified

I dreamed I was starting
in a running race
There were four 400-metre laps
Everyone else limbered up
When the gun went they took off
sending up divots from their spiked shoes
I stretched myself a bit and looked around
The finish line was only 50 metres from the starting blocks
Just there
Practically in front of me
so I walked forward until my belly touched the tape and said, Well?
But the man with the flag said
You're disqualified
You didn't run the four laps
What the hell were you thinking? Get out of here!

First published in Creatrix

my mother

my mother smells
like cat: tongue licking kitten;
like homespun: wool-grease, warmth;
like eggshell, like duckpond;
like ocean: iodine, fins;
like oils wet on canvas;
like tripe, like boiled cabbage;
like baked apples and ginger biscuits;
like slept-in ‘Tweed by Lentheric’;
like cold morning ash;
like yellowing paper;
like glass

First published in Creatrix