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stephanie robertsstephanie roberts has work featured or forthcoming in numerous periodicals, in North America and Europe, including Arcturus, Atlanta Review, Crannóg Magazine, The /tƐmz/ Review, and Occulum. A 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee, she was also a finalist in Eyewear Publishing LTD's 9th Fortnight Prize.
Twitter // @ringtales Website // oceansandfire.com |
Nerve Damage
today, a grey squirrel, two weeks face down in the pool,
enjoys the eco-system of whisper thin linden leaves
that escaped the autumn raking to float, freeze, thaw
and bleach, in spring sun, until they are ghosts.
moss-like algae speaks round the petal ears
of the petite brute's decay. two days before,
a flock of white-capped sparrows picked through
the field of front yard in a spirit of what could be called
hope. an unhinged squirrel kept running them off--
an annoyance and agony that everything is itself.
watering the stirring magnolia, i found one sparrow
dead by the water spout. the masculine golden feathers
still bright around his departed eyes.
i'd hurt myself sneezing which made me remember
a fifteen year-old girl who'd just had a baby boy.
she said, i didn't get not one single tear! for the briefest
sneeze we are invincible. if you fall asleep with your arm
over your head and manage dreaming in that position
after a few hours you will wake up with nerve damage.
i collapse into every rest like an open grave
the body wants to be there; the body floats toward eyeless
and the slim cover of a transparent fall.
enjoys the eco-system of whisper thin linden leaves
that escaped the autumn raking to float, freeze, thaw
and bleach, in spring sun, until they are ghosts.
moss-like algae speaks round the petal ears
of the petite brute's decay. two days before,
a flock of white-capped sparrows picked through
the field of front yard in a spirit of what could be called
hope. an unhinged squirrel kept running them off--
an annoyance and agony that everything is itself.
watering the stirring magnolia, i found one sparrow
dead by the water spout. the masculine golden feathers
still bright around his departed eyes.
i'd hurt myself sneezing which made me remember
a fifteen year-old girl who'd just had a baby boy.
she said, i didn't get not one single tear! for the briefest
sneeze we are invincible. if you fall asleep with your arm
over your head and manage dreaming in that position
after a few hours you will wake up with nerve damage.
i collapse into every rest like an open grave
the body wants to be there; the body floats toward eyeless
and the slim cover of a transparent fall.