2 poems
by Carmen E. Brady
Carmen E. Brady lives, writes, draws, and teaches in the rural Midwestern US. Follow her on twitter @therealcbrad.
So let the lightning bugs feel magic for you
Today no one is in the water
still, the lifeguards looked at the sky & made them all towel off
to prepare for coming destruction
& re-open come morning, no matter the mess or downed lines
sorry for the inconvenience,
this is life now.
pulling apart the threads inside of me to find causes is exhausting
& I’m too old to try again
if a tomato rots
the seeds will grow
Mostly sunny
I replace all my underwear with one 6 pack of plain black panties and feel better about the practicality of it all.
Look, I am making myself a new life!
& simplicity is my favorite product to buy.
On the ground are yesterday's crumbs and dried drops of coffee.
Outside the geese squawk. Last February they didn’t fly this way,
& we all know our fate.
High schoolers walk past my windows, laughing.
In the fall I hear them screaming joyful at varsity football games
as I still sit alone.
Oh, god, it’s in our bones.
Shakespeare said exactly the right thing for this feeling, but who cares.
Dead white men get to live for thousands of years,
& none of this can last.