Linda King


understory


learn to pay attention    pretend
you believe in the false logic
of language    all those
wayward words    small moments
like coins in a tip jar

too many things are over
beyond the reach
of reality’s warranty
no one lasts
without breaking

down on your luck
you cannot fit into your life
everything you believe
is the understory  an effect
searching for a cause

it leaves you cold
and so you wear every word
like a garment

after wringing the blood
from every letter



wildfire season


wildfire season    the air full
of darkness and ash falling
in the shanty’s flashbulb shelter
the night watchman’s lantern
is barely visible
							someone has crossed your name
							off the guest list    and so you
							distract the doorman by
							deconstructing the flames

you ask some drunken stranger
to take your place in the queue
he takes your request under consideration

							everyone has grabbed pocket change
							for the ferryman    a spoon of rain
							in a deluge

this is that mad summer
they warned you about



a storm seeking thunder

signals shift
from that once
savage optimism
as if what is broken
was always meant to be
you know life
in exile    and now
you will only answer
to the weather    a storm
seeking thunder
its sad truths
are  replacing
flawed reason
fundamental questions
remain unanswered
you regret
the dull ordinariness
of it all    carry
a flask of hope
in your handbag
you keep looking
for forgiveness without
knowing what you did
keep trying to learn
how to not have
enough air

Linda King is the author of five poetry collections including Reality Wayfarers (Shoe Music Press, 2015) and antibodies in the alphabet (BlazeVOX Books, 2019). Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, has been nominated for Best of the Net and also for the Pushcart Prize. King lives and writes on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada.

 
 

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