Poetry by
Gregory McIntyre

You’ve been fishing for years
Waiting for a tug on the line

Long ago you forgot
Empire is built on lies
Ergo

Recline
Recline
Recline

Fingers shoot up to cover my shame
To grab and strangle sound itself
Hopelessly late
My hopeless words threw you away
My hope and light
Into a cloud
Hot salt expands
In my head and in my hands

The late sunlit summer evening bliss
I miss walk fists
Deep down in pockets
Strain to keep
The rain inside
The welling tide
The waxing pain
Refrain from crying
Suburban street
Move my feet and be discrete
My bleeding inside I can let
When I get and it’s not far
And close the door behind me
When at last I’m in my car

But here
A startling animal cry
I raise my eyes to the sun
Haloed there a seagull triumphant
Stands atop a tiled roof
In its beak it grips its prize
A sunlit summer evening chip
Proud silhouette
My sodden form
Lifts to behold his finest hour
This champion of summer bliss
I missed but now I cast around
And yes
O’ seagull
You are right
The world is magic liminal light
Split from white
And whatever right I had to cast
The blurry light from blurry day
Now I say
Come back to me
I’ll live in you
Come back to me
This time I’ll stay

I hear them around the corner
high lilting voices
I pause to listen

dog got hit by a car
is he okay?
dad took him to the hos-ti-pal
I mean… the vet
he had blood on his leg
is he gonna be okay?
we have to go back tomorrow
what did your dad say?
nothing
he just looked sad

I round the corner and see them
they see me
small pale faces look up at me as I pass them
their mouths are lines drawn on

sink into hot water
dust on the white enameled rim
fold the body down look up
slosh glup
a moth trapped in the skylight
soap stains on the mirror
a single hair, long and dark
faintly visible against the white tile

every afternoon out there
digging
he has that look
so I don’t ask
he gets home
changes his clothes
goes out to the yard and
digs
the hole is getting pretty big
I look out the kitchen window
and I can’t see his head anymore
just
every few seconds
dirt flies out
makes a pitter patter sound
chk pitter patter
chk pitter patter
how do you talk to a guy like that
I bring him some melon
hey
I say
you want some melon?
I reach down into the hole
he leans on his shovel
eats some melon
I go back inside
close the door behind me
nothing
I hear nothing
my brow furrows
then
chk pitter patter
chk pitter patter

the night is
the tiny light winks out
the bed creaks
the finger strokes cold glass
the bedspread rises and falls
the night is

Summer soil stinking juice runs down our cheeks insects winking tracing lines above us give us honey nectar love us love us

Sunlight hugs us warm rest loves us warmth abounds outside sounds like children playing cops and robbers in dying light they’ll be alright

Winter soil stark and empty drains our feet our hands our bellies don’t lie down in death knell winter hurry past pull fast won’t last

Robbers at the windows close them lock them shun them block them cower cover hide in night time towers hold them tight we’ll be alright

Take roses and satin
Take rings and vows
Take Pachelbel’s Canon
Fire the fucking thing into the sea

It’s not me, love
I’m frigid and thistles
I’m unbearable
Summers and too long winters

Take ribbons and flowers
Take maidens in towers
Take kittens and loofahs away from me

But if you see
Lipstick on his collar
If your stomach drops ten feet
Pick up the phone
I’m always at home
Pick up the phone and call me

You have to come! Sit next to me!
You’ll be alright! Just wait and see!
Once you sit down it’ll be okay!
Everyone here likes you!
Stay stay stay!

She says “I don’t know why people take risks”
I think “Lady, why’d you come here?”
She says “I don’t know why people get fat”
I think “Problems, clearly that you never had”
She says “People make mistakes, they just don’t know”
I think “I made one today and it’s starting to show”