March Rapture
Snow so slanted and fierce in the wind
it lances us, erasing the other bank
of the river, the tall dark downtown
buildings, then the river itself
my wife and I alone on the river trail
disappearing beneath us until we’re
floating, cartoon figures on blank paper
and who will draw the rest of our lives
and who will erase where we came
from? How much longer will we
be able to melt it? Today, it pelts
us with a lack of answers.
Footprints filling in behind us
yet we continue making them
until the buildings reappear,
the river widens, then narrows.
200 Penises, Give or Take a Couple of Penises
spray-painted in sprawl across the river trail.
Forgive me for not counting them. I know
that, like snowflakes, no two penises are alike
but these come close with their balloon-
animal cock and balls, hairless and without
detail. I try not to step on the penises but…
A little war going on here on the South Side
homeless encampments lining the trail
and the city’s bright idea to designate
a certain section of it as the Color Park
to allow capital A graffiti Artists. How long
did this last? Well…
The city painted over what extended beyond
the Color Park boundaries. The penises
covered that fresh paint. They showed each
other who’s boss. You’d think that might
be the end of it, but…
The city’s put up invitations to peace talks
alongside the trail. Me, I’m just a UN observer,
or a reporter for the News that Stays News.
As soon as I write, “just,” I know I’m in
trouble….
I walk past a man fishing in our polluted
river. Getting any bites? I ask.
Well, he says….
Jim Daniels’ latest book, The Luck of the Fall, fiction, was published by Michigan State University Press. Recent poetry collections include The Human Engine at Dawn, Wolfson Press, Gun/Shy, Wayne State University Press, and Comment Card, Carnegie Mellon University Press. His first book of nonfiction, Ignorance of Trees, is forthcoming from Cornerstone Press. A native of Detroit, he currently lives in Pittsburgh and teaches in the Alma College low-residency MFA program