floodlight

Katydid clings on midnight porch rail
confused by her afternoon-sized shadow

she wonders what happened to the morning
hides in a dark corner
tries to sleep it off

~

11:07 pm spider whispers

just tell them to go outside
read it for themselves
skip the middle man
poem-hustler who hawks
desiccated translations like flies
wrapped with invisible wire

go on, tell them
the spider has all the juice

~

flagstone map

states mapped in dark slate patterns
of the flagstone porch
Hawaii nestles under Arkansas' arm
and a concrete river cuts between
Tennessee and Utah

New Hampshire and Vermont remain inseparable
of course
they always fit together
so nicely

A cricket hops in search of a legend
to deliver him to Jersey

Black beetles circle
confused by conflicting signs
to "Wall Drug" and "South of the Border"
which seems to have been moved North

Spider and Katydid look down from white paint heavens
sticky feet above it all


� 2004 by Jenifer VanBuren