“Every Bad Lover Is Indigestion”
By C. Egan
Every bad lover is indigestion;
Heartburn, heartache -
They always feel the same.
This poem is the recreation of Man-eater
In my image.
I’d only known devotion as to devour,
Our love so tenderly overripe.
I thought the nectar of the gods
Was two fingers down my throat;
Thought the way to immortality
Was juices dripping from my chin.
Four a.m., spoke with Gluttony,
And she said, “Gore fuels the need for flesh.”
She said, “Always ask for more;
Carve your initials in the back;
Divinity is just another way to decay.”
So I sank to the bottom of your gut,
And sat there like stone;
You spent five months rotting away and
Me, five months gnawing at your bones.
I ate my own heart just to survive;
I ate yours just to be safe.
Scary how your name became
Synonymous with hunger.
Scary how my name became
Synonymous with starving.
“This is a reflection on why my past relationships failed.”
* * * * * * * * * *
“Into the Open Sky”
By Shane Teter
Our autumn leaves descend --
Poplar, sugar maple,
Oak, and black cherry --
The colored-side face down.
Pines half-participate --
They shed (like deer in spring)
Their summer-gathering
Interior needles.
I love them, these old pines:
Their autumn molting time,
Their winter sun diets,
Their shedding summer fluff.
I rake them this morning --
The turned leaves and needles,
The tumbled ends and starts,
Into the big fire,
Into the big smoke,
And into the open sky.
“I never do things in their proper order. In the spring, my mind is cluttered with fall thoughts. When I read, I want to be active; when I’m active, I think about a good book and a warm cup. Anyway, here’s some fall words that foreshadow what’s to come.”
