What Rough Beast | Poem for June 4, 2017

Karen Hildebrand
Leaf Cutter Ants Without the Rain Forest

We pour from the train like burnt sienna
and flow through the valley of boxes stacked
on boxes, this stairway made of workers
in cubicles, our blood sugar bouncing. Email
rolls in like thunder. It squeaks more than
shakes. The stroke is a bell. Hunky, hunky,
won’t you draw me a line. Don’t prick me,
I beg as we climb single file, delivering tweets
at night, the light cut to a thin purple dash.

 

Karen Hildebrand‘s work has appeared in many journals, including Poet Lore, Fourteen Hills, Meridian, Blue Mesa Review, The Journal, G. W. Review and WomenArts Quarterly. Her poems have also appeared in anthologies published by great weather for MEDIA and A Gathering of the Tribes. Her poems were adapted for a play, The Old In and Out, produced by Three Rooms Press.

SUBMIT to What Rough Beast via our SUBMITTABLE site.

If you want to support the mission and work of Indolent Books, consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Indolent Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charity.

Join our mailing list to receive news, updates, and special offers from Indolent Books.