Thrush Poetry Journal
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Tony Mancus

think critically about the fretful shots you’ve taken and what else can mean gun

fate is a bag of sand
opened in the ocean
and the ocean is a key

turning the smallest
parts inside us
to a slipped gear

rust will never go missing from
whatever metal we’ve ingested.
I’m saying eat the whole picnic table

you’ll never grow another relative
holiday smeared with lipgloss
and Polaroid flashes

the stained rim of china
cups dimmed with cold coffee
each ashtray filled with the memory of smoke




Tony Mancus is the author of four chapbooks, most recently Bye Sea (Tree Light Books) and Again(st) Membering out in fall from Horse Less Press. In 2008, he co-founded Flying Guillotine Press with Sommer Browning. They make small books. He and his wife Shannon live with two yappy cats in Rosslyn, VA.




Return to July 2014 Edition