A List of His Flaws

By PETER MISHLER

Single-headed.

Flowering inwardly.

Barely felt in the birth canal.

Medical marketer.

Sick with planet.

Cupped like a handful of sea uncertainly held.

Carried fire to the human encampment.

Herod in boyhood.

An herbicide.

Given name known to the weapons inspectors.

Anchorite.

All alane.

Drowned his horse at the edge of the pier.

Covered in silverfish.

Drank Sutter Home.

Wept but briefly through the grate of mesh.

Fist full of clip-art.

Asked why the mask sweat.

Ancestry swabs in his cheeks like two tusks.

Mouth like a storm drain.

Flashdrive of redheads.

Nudity a vestige from the vault in which he hid.

Did not provide succor, a perch, or a crawlspace.

Became the mother reborn in the son.

Territory manager.

Sloppy kisser.

Face concealer.

Eaten-up thumbs.

Shit-shoveler.

Inner-Caesar.

Underwhelming shield.

Endymion.

 

[Purchase Issue 19 here.] 

Peter Mishler‘s debut collection is Fludde. Other new work appears this year in Granta and The American Poetry Review.

From the beginning, The Common has brought you transportive writing and exciting new voices. We are committed to supporting writers and maintaining free, unrestricted access to our website, but we can’t do it without you. Become an integral part of our global community of readers and writers by donating today. No amount is too small. Thank you!

A List of His Flaws

Related Posts

coffee with a spoon

If It Wasn’t for Heroin

AMIYA MORETTA
My Umatilla grandfather / who had one leg, lived down the road, / hobbled to her heroin loyally. / That’s how / my mom and dad, neighbors whose parents / were good friends and fellow addicts, / met as kids, played together / on Frieda Street, those mornings

At night my soul leaves 

KAREN CHASE
up it goes into the stars, for / sustenance. I open / my eyes and pray— / You have returned within me, my / soul with compassion. / Modah ani lefaneka melechai / chai vekayam shehehezarta // I get out of bed, / join the revolution. 

Image of a wooden horse

Trojan Horse

M. B. MCLATCHEY
 It was a gold-seal ruse. A double-/ dealing so sublime the gods ordained / it. Settled into their stadium seats, / they wagered on their favorites. Helen, / the imposter bride, circling and circling  / the gifted horse. / Her Central Casting / lines to the shadows inside.