Jenny Kalahar Poems

a butterfly in neon gas
flashing candied colors
breathing that which
exhaling that which
...

I missed it all
The whole darned thing is over and done
I had sat there in the front row, facing the simple coffin
And I let it go and pass and end
...

In afterlife will I see the King
with outstretched arms to me
Or will I sail a ship alone
across tawny sands of memories
...

Like a blobfish without soulful eyes
more orange than white, this pumpkin
takes over my garden
its ridges uneven
...

There is more than a rippled pane of tinted glass
between air I exhale
and the world I used to live in
under the tree of my childhood on tire swing
...

Swinging in darkness
in a house
suspended by unseen ropes or chains
where the creak and moan of movement
...

The roast is done! Sit down, sit down!
Stop teasing your sister and sit down right now!
Pass the salt
Where's the gravy? Who's hogging the gravy? Save me some!
...

Rise up, pages!
Open to my finger-pulls!
Take me inside where I want to be,
to some fantastic world
...

There sit or sway these self-crowned Kings of the Rod
Some by day as black flies swarm their baskets
Some by night, when the water seems deeper
Some by night so dark the plunk of bait going down
...

When I have grown from tigerlet
Into master of my house
I will call for nip, for bowls of tuna
And my toys will all be mouse
...