Ash (poem)

Ash

You were bound to burn out your time

that short fuse not adequate to the role

of guiding light, beacon on a hill

Steady star by lost at sea to navigate

More the fuming little stick

of dynamite laid like landmines, planned things

ran afoul of the implacable hour

You had, like all of us, to pick and choose

Let’s sift through what you picked

Let’s word associate, let’s play

Deluxe, the one with proper nouns

A sense of character, to start this round

A living face, from which to come

the statement prejudiced

maybe it’s yours needs taking

that you swallow information

that I state in understatement

has been sourced not unreliably…so much

as made up whole, from motive undisguised

Lost at Sea: (conversational) A friendly

observation about anything, to anyone

Little Stick: I was told by Popeye to expect this

Lost at Sea: You don’t make sense

Little Stick: Did some object make a noise?

Ash

To Terms

Amulet

(2020, Stephanie Foster)