Author: Kyle Edwards

HARSH maybe to criticize plate

LADEN with chicken wings while

SLYLY suggesting weight to height

RATIO less proportional than formerly.

SURLY waiter on his tenth day in a row and a

TOUCH of a sarcastic bent not at all

SORRY for the havoc he’s gonna

WREAK on the bad tipping Applebee’s crowd.

BASIN in the backcountry often the site of

BAWDY activities not sanctioned by the park service, yet

REEDY bankside now quiet and holy where

VIGIL is held by solitary mourner healing slowly.

PRISM through which some see the world is a

GAUDY Cubs collectible plaque,

CRAFT beer from Michigan, and

SCORN for Walmart.

TORUS of abandoned tire now

VIPER nest, drainage

VALVE perfect route from which to

VAUNT over terrorized locals.

AHEAD of the curve this week, hitting the

GRIND hard, gotta save up a fair

HOARD for date night:

WOOER ain’t an easy gig.

PUPAL under the earth doesn’t like

UNDUE attention, waiting for springtime.

FUGUE in my own self-awareness, waiting for the new:

GRAPH me somewhere on the bell curve of self-doubting.

INERT on my couch with beer and Pringles I have a

HUNCH I had something important to do today, I

OUGHT to check my calendar but it’s

UNDER that stack of unopened mail, and I can’t even.

PIPER does his duty where

WIGHT might prowl,

CHEEK filling then exhaling with

VIGOR as mourners listen, remembering.

ALBUM cover looks like a badly drawn

GHOUL, embodying our modern alienation, something

LOOPY like that.

STUMP me to think how I ever went through that phase.