from my mother's porch
rubber band still
around the wind
chimes
I’m smoking
by the light of wayward smarts
and by the light
of karmic bells
Miles Davis is still in the lead
so many folks
at home these days
trying silence as remedy
for responsibility’s wound
so many bodies
responding to combinations
of sweet words on the television
my memory of that time
is a picnic
quilted blanket red and wind
through infant trees
no, I was taking my first
manic drive on a back road
no, I was using the rain
to delete my voice
no, it was one
of many blackouts after binge
perhaps
I was on my mother’s porch
I had no job
except to speak to the stone
yard and give
the rocker a little
shove
and listen to it sing
Collin Berry is currently an MFA candidate in poetry at Vermont College of Fine Arts. He resides in St. Louis. He encourages you to check out the charity BlinkNow.
