By: Richard LeDue

Special Enough

To those who are always the victor,
remember defeats can be small
as cobwebs we can’t reach with brooms
or large like an arachnophobia
we don’t talk about,
and that losing is what makes winning
possible, especially when everyone’s
given a gold star and told they are
special enough to succeed
in a world where 0.08% of people
are billionaires.

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Anxious Eyes Looking for the Right Way

Rain is only interesting
if it’s part of a metaphor,
like turning puddles into footprints
or grey clouds becoming anxious eyes
looking for the right way,
but afterwards I’m still
sitting on my couch,
wondering about how easily broken
umbrellas can be,
and why, hours later,
the weather forecast for a sunny day
echoes in my brain
among other lies I can’t forget.

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A Wordsworthian Smile

The dead birch in my backyard listens
to me, and is never distracted
by text messages or the perfect comeback
from a joke where I messed up
the punchline. The dead birch
in my backyard has kissed death,
but is still there for me-
its white bark angel skin
that tells my fingers how heaven
is closer than any of us think,
while my yellowed teeth compose
a Wordsworthian smile
beneath my cracked lips.