Thrush Poetry Journal
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Cal Freeman

How to Blow Smoke through a Screen Door

Imagine that the world has always been this slow,

heat shimmering off of pavement,
smoke blue and thick as heat,
dog stalled on the tile, shade

winnowing the gaps between

the branches, and sun.  Light diffuse

as steam from a hot faucet,
time steeping and refusing to whistle
for fear of startling the juncos in the lawn.

Say Billy Joel is a genius or praise
the onanistic spluge of a Jimmy Page solo
on the little radio.  

Imagine cochleal satellites

redacting all your thoughts;
hope this adheres
to an inner logic.  Taste the smoke,

like sand against your tongue.

Picture a horse’s nostrils flared
as it cribs and wood dust bites its lungs.

Imagine filter upon filter
until thoughts are atmospheric; 
hold this in

until you feel it coming on.




Cal Freeman was born and raised in Detroit.  His writing has appeared in many journals including Commonweal, The Drunken Boat, and Birmingham Poetry Review.  He has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes in poetry and creative nonfiction, and his first collection of poems, Brother of Leaving, has just been published by Antonin Artaud Publications.





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