Taxonomies: Past/Present/Future Tense
I. Shadows

Lean companion strolling beside you
on the beach. Alter ego. Body to the soul.
The man who sold his shadow to the devil. 
Shadowless demons. Your twin crow. 
The shadow Peter Pan lost and Wendy 
reattached. The darkness that pools 
around statues celebrating our dark past.

                       
II. Spills

Milk, but don’t cry over it. Black opal
ooze of oil, birds trapped in slick
straightjackets. What’s the phrase
for saying too much? Spilled his heart?
No—as if truth is violence—spilled his guts.
Guns kill 100 souls a day. We are all
slipping on sidewalks thick with blood.

                       
III. Endings That Are Actually Beginnings

The last scene of The Godfather,
when the closed door shows Michael’s
transformation into the boss. Cilantro
that bolts mid-summer, leaving behind
coriander seeds. False sunrise teasing
the real thing. The man who knew your mom
was pregnant and left. A knee on the neck.​​​​​​​
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