Tuesday, April 1, 2014

a poem by mrb chelko



Human Be


depths of the iris infinite blue-black

sea slick flash oil spill of lashes razor

look robs you flutter

of shame or exhaustion or want of a man aimed

across the train we stuffed in

railing strung with hands shells

let go you sure to fall

to your death from just standing and

land at the feet of strangers

on a train when someone croaks

folks make room they

look and look and finally move on

like just born turtles determine first sand you

must think of footsteps as stamps earth a message

we try furious to send into the future

but where the future at

the way the escalator

reincarnates her silver links to be born

with grave built-in

fibrovascular lichen black sun with crumbling

aperture gravity defied the seedling’s intrepid ascent

from the carton’s socket





MRB Chelko is the recipient of a 2013 Poetry Society of America Chapbook Fellowship for Manhattations. Her work has appeared numerous chapbooks and journals, current/forthcoming publications include: Anti-, Poetry International, Sixth Finch, and Washington Square Review.  

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