F i n n e g a n B l y —

lineage

fence a faun

fails its leap.

barbs slit

then thresh

skin from flesh

holds crossing.

a fieldhand

quiets faun 

throat & rollick. nerves

swarm lacewing

burn nightlight, cell by cell.

faun remains field 

& homely.

home faun remains 

leak septic dirt return

as story between tuna chunks.

as story, I suspend here.

farmer // almanac

he perimeters field

by ditch edge. water 

won't take to ground 

nesting voles. his bones

against shatter, he drives

metal stakes to hard stone

earth resists borders.

he lips blue gems 

toxins burrow mouth cave.

price per pound disproportions

his labor. he will lose

this land, still imagines 

his children's bare, cool tile 

feet in the house he won't build.

his experiment: a steel line

running each row length

to trellis tree growth straight.

his hands abate not

root rot, spinal collapse.

mold folds worm ridden

hull crop: he grows a field of moths.

—

forget a branch ribbon

bark embodies as flesh to fragment.

amber sweetens

lack where wounds lick.

where tap sputters

dig a deeper well.

where winter freezes

late spring, depend.

depend on tomorrow.

depend on weather.

weather, with a wire

drove through its throat.

.