Poetry: Selections from Colin Powers
Incidentals
I’m adept at suppressing my
wildest dreams! My hands are
bloated and gashed from
pushing everything down.
The neighbors told me
to use their compost pile
whenever I please, but
I’m too embarrassed.
Did they see it leaking
out from under the door?
This town would have more
charm if it were dirtier.
The other day I had
diarrhea in the co-op
bathroom. It was my
contribution. I am rescued
from eating foxglove
in the parking lot
with a sleight of hand.
I never saw it coming
so I asked to be shown
again and again he
indulged me. This
magician.
Résumé #2
When I was teenager
I hid my glass pipe
in a coconut pirate.
When I was a carrot a hole
the size of me was all
I would hide in.
When I was Phillip Seymour
Hoffman I toasted
in a dancehall band.
When I was a staple I lamented
my place in line.
When I cast my ballot
blood came pouring out.
When I was your age
there was no light.
Year Lease
The first time it rains
the water passes through the bedroom door frame
and drips out of a hole
in the closet ceiling
the front door won’t shut
because the wood filler holding the strike
has dissolved into caramel
we send a photo to the property
manager and he texts back
“It just like that”
and after
laughing we are overcome
with dread at this
new relationship
but he comes
by with a new strike and
a new knob the next day
after we insist No this isn’t how
a door is supposed to work
in a Zoom consultation with a tenants rights group
a woman describes the leak above her stove
that makes the igniter sputter and smoke
and says she hasn’t
cooked for months
we’re all living under something that
needs to be fixed
I learn the city of Philadelphia
doesn’t have any mold
legislation nor does
the state of Pennsylvania
nor do most of the other
states and cities in the country
We put a bowl
under the leak
in the closet and
catch a mouse
Comments
Post a Comment