Daniel Stewart
Epithalamion
No god nailed to the night. I checked
with the stars, who were supercilious.
A grizzly sow saunters through
our sleep, simple as a stray.
The owls are not what they seemed.
The way I understand language
is not by wing but by talon.
In the mean time
you wore a prom dress
to the mall, pink
as a tongue. No one ever forgot
or forgave you.
Is it the way they drink
their gin―without rocks
or sorrow? How do they light
their smokes with razors
instead of fingers?
The grizzly sow does not understand.
She neither loves nor misses her cubs.
Our garbage tonight is succulent.
O moon a heart cut out
Of hammered tin
Let’s watch the stars leak out
The dark before they’re forgotten
The Ordinary Blues
I’m surrounded. It’s quite a palace. The peeling paint dreams
it’s historical. The bathroom suffers a 70’s
hangover.
Frayed thread from broken blinds twines with cobwebs, a spider’s
kingdom. Spare the web dwellers. Crush the crawlers.
What would you do? Who told you how?
So a tree grows, so its leaves shiver
flesh-like, just
so. My books lean
into dust. Drunks,
I miss
you, I miss
your shiny
teeth, your vapid―
I forget.
Let mercy wash
my dishes. Every night, let mercy
make lunch, scoop cat boxes. Song,
is this the way
I was meant to sing you?
Silhouetted against shade junipers wheeze, zombies
in the moaning twilight, in February’s
brouhaha, promise some August soon
to burn.
Metaphors
They’re always interesting to talk about. One generally understands
their color. Carbon dating keeps them hip. Who loves them best, us or dogs?
I love some so much I couldn’t bare to bury them. Dirt gets the best of most.
Of them. Some tongues don’t cringe at marrow. Surprising, how much
they’re like trees. Most smiles are made of them. And when one breaks,
there’s no mistaking it.
Daniel Stewart writes and teaches in Boise, ID. His collection of poems, The Imaginary World (Wolf Peach Press), was published in 2003. He has published poems in both print and online journals including Puerto Del Sol, Rattle, Prairie Schooner, Lonesome Fowl, 40 Ounce Bachelor, Educe, and Skidrow Penthouse, among others.
Return to November 2012 Edition
No god nailed to the night. I checked
with the stars, who were supercilious.
A grizzly sow saunters through
our sleep, simple as a stray.
The owls are not what they seemed.
The way I understand language
is not by wing but by talon.
In the mean time
you wore a prom dress
to the mall, pink
as a tongue. No one ever forgot
or forgave you.
Is it the way they drink
their gin―without rocks
or sorrow? How do they light
their smokes with razors
instead of fingers?
The grizzly sow does not understand.
She neither loves nor misses her cubs.
Our garbage tonight is succulent.
O moon a heart cut out
Of hammered tin
Let’s watch the stars leak out
The dark before they’re forgotten
The Ordinary Blues
I’m surrounded. It’s quite a palace. The peeling paint dreams
it’s historical. The bathroom suffers a 70’s
hangover.
Frayed thread from broken blinds twines with cobwebs, a spider’s
kingdom. Spare the web dwellers. Crush the crawlers.
What would you do? Who told you how?
So a tree grows, so its leaves shiver
flesh-like, just
so. My books lean
into dust. Drunks,
I miss
you, I miss
your shiny
teeth, your vapid―
I forget.
Let mercy wash
my dishes. Every night, let mercy
make lunch, scoop cat boxes. Song,
is this the way
I was meant to sing you?
Silhouetted against shade junipers wheeze, zombies
in the moaning twilight, in February’s
brouhaha, promise some August soon
to burn.
Metaphors
They’re always interesting to talk about. One generally understands
their color. Carbon dating keeps them hip. Who loves them best, us or dogs?
I love some so much I couldn’t bare to bury them. Dirt gets the best of most.
Of them. Some tongues don’t cringe at marrow. Surprising, how much
they’re like trees. Most smiles are made of them. And when one breaks,
there’s no mistaking it.
Daniel Stewart writes and teaches in Boise, ID. His collection of poems, The Imaginary World (Wolf Peach Press), was published in 2003. He has published poems in both print and online journals including Puerto Del Sol, Rattle, Prairie Schooner, Lonesome Fowl, 40 Ounce Bachelor, Educe, and Skidrow Penthouse, among others.
Return to November 2012 Edition