Monday, May 24, 2010

We Are by Robert Graves


We Are
by Robert Graves

1. we are not the rain washing your dark alley
we are not the spring breeze through your sheets
we are not the covered, un-carved bread
on your counter, we are steel and iron
and lids of brass, we are combs and jars
and the dissatisfaction of the marsh

2. the toadstools are alive and move and think
they tell each other long stories gathered
on some squishy plot of marsh
and their warmth glows all the dark night

3. we are not the spies of the intellect
clawing at some sacred word
we are not the colorless birth
snotted across your tattooed back

4. motor-oil-rainbows bleed into the ponds
the toadstools believe it is a sign,
directly from Tol, that the marsh
could soon be nothing but sky
so they strictly observe their morning prayers
and dedicate their evening tales to Tol

5. speckles on the egg-shells and tiny lizard
footprints lead to caramel stalks of grass
that cloud with dusty pollen when the wind blows
but your butterflies and bees have disappeared

6. the moon is silent: your sad, listening pet
and in the green arms of our monster
your winds are smothered, your glistening waters
fill with feces--because we must grow, we squeeze

7. the toadstools have bad neighbors:
the metal cylinders blooming with filth
that clogs the wind, that clings to the grass
and that fills the ponds
where the white eyes of fish bellies
stare empty at the sky

Author bio:

Robert C. J. Graves lives with his wife, Emily, in Emporia, KS, where he teaches general education classes at Flint Hills Technical College. His poetry and fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals, including 491 Magazine, Bijou Poetry Review, Chickenpinata, Crash, the Chiron Review, Eclectic Flash, Eleutheria - The Scottish Poetry Review, Haiku Ramblings, Mikrokosmos, The New Flesh, Poetry for the Masses, Prairie Poetry, Vox Poetica, and Word Salad Poetry Magazine. A former bartender and freelance sports writer, Robert holds a Ph.D. in English (Rhetoric and Writing) from Bowling Green and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry) from Wichita State.

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