Alexis Pope

The Eve of A No Good Something

I say feather some of your sweetness
to my lap. A hard day in which two
feet work like eight. Hear the things
I say better like: firefly. Gelatin.
Yuletide. December picnic without
the snow. Weather rains down
my headache. A gingham cloth
& silver light on my sleeve. Figure
the sun for a man. Which leaves me
with the moon. Something my body
has always known. A jumping jack
is a snow angel standing. It only takes
lying down to make us holy. Branches
against the sky. Little cold lake. Swim
in my body for some time. And after
the celebration we will be the same
again. Leaving the park like a party
no one wanted to attend. Glitter
the brick of the road with laughter.
It’s too early in the season. You
are too late to make a difference.
Nutmeg & cinnamon. Chamomile
& parking lot. A place to rest
our seeping thoughts. Answer
to my morning. Thoughts
don’t solve anything. I am still.
You question my symmetry. Tell
me another story.

Alexis Pope is the author of the chapbook Girl Erases Girl (Dancing Girl Press, 2013). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Columbia Poetry Review, iO: A Journal of New American Poetry, The New Megaphone, Anti-, and elsewhere. She is co-curator of THE BIG BIG MESS READING SERIES and Contributing Editor for Whiskey Island Magazine.