“Before Us”
Grass garnishes the strip between
Two roads cutting through the country.
Like a lawn, it gleams and welcomes
Passersby to keep their drive.
A tree stands alone in the strip—
Beautiful,
Like a hair on a naked dog—
Beautiful now
That its neighbors are cut.
Beautiful then
Because we were not here,
In the naked streets and stores,
Nor there, in the woods, where
The same beauty stood before—
A coat.
“On Honey”
Class begins:
The professor’s smoke
Fills our lungs,
Pulls our eyelids.
He speaks through
A netted veil.
He inhales the sweet
We regurgitate.
Class dismissed:
As the smoke lifts,
I hear my mind
Begin to buzz.
