Issue 19 Poetry

From Tanaga

April 27, 2020 Issue 19, Issue 19 Poetry, Poetry

17.

The cicadas come every…
How many years? The cycles
Are all fucked up now. Even
Insects know the end is near.

The emerald ash borer looks
Like a jewel; its value
Lies in destructiveness to
Species—ours—that feed on ash.

April 27, 2020 Issue 19, Issue 19 Poetry, Poetry

The morning after we decided not to get engaged

(I’d ridden the streetcar alone;

I felt purposeful and ashamed, my mouth stained with wine)

I sat down in the shower and wept

into the crook of one elbow, my arms folded over,

as the shampoo ran down my breasts

and spine. I was studying the contours of my knees, when it

took me suddenly,