By Jon Carter

peaceful nothing

downtown sidewalk
people walk by
talking
smiling
bright
ignorant /
happy teeth
unwilling to acknowledge

that no easy things
live in the chest
and nothing
meaningful
lives
out of it,

beyond them
a dying elm tree stands
against the street,
ideas like mulch
surrounding it as it’s
strangled by the sun-
no rain
no inspiration-

looking up /
looking away

a clear blue sky
is solid enough
to knock me out
as soon as it
decides to
come down.

###

food

the earth is a
machine eating
our bones 6
feet deep…

I guess that scares me most,
that’s part of it-

that’s part of it, I do
not want to go there
in the ground along
with everyone else

please do not let it eat me like the others,
do something else-

maybe torch my corpse
and load the ashes
on a rocket
headed for
space but for
the love of
GOD

do not let it eat me.

###

Howling

the letters fall
off the screen into
a puddle on my
desk

and I
close my eyes,
stepping
over the edge,
dipping
my toes into
darkness

and I
close my eyes
to the train
passing
through my mind
rocking
on wild tracks,
howling

howling.