2 poems from an abundance of terrifying elements, by Amanda Earl

x.

this year i discovered

orchids in the grass

how they held on

how they lingered untended

lying dormant beneath

indifferent fields of snow

now in heat everything grows

the lemon balm, the white

horehound & the yarrow

staunches the blood, attracts

the bees, spreads root & seed

see how the wild flame ignites

its blooms unheeded

left to thrive or die alone

xi.

squash flowers

in the green

a public garden

overripe vegetables

squash untouched

beside the marigolds

stalks of sporadic tomatoes

windfall crab apples can’t be

exchanged for crack

a man drinks the last

of the juice from the plastic

bottle in the recycling bin

cranberry wine heated in

the sun to slake the dry

august heat. i can’t sleep.

it’s midnight. the slugs are

crawling across the dead

oak leaves. the cicada’s

parched metal tune is

on repeat. i watch the

vinyl album spin around

the turntable. its thin lines

converge and extend. the

music wobbles. my throat

is sore. the scar flares red

and itches. the indigo

pills take away the pain

for now. i’m afraid

of the confined space

of a dream. what the

black night cupboard

contains. beside the white callas

lies a wooden box. an indentation

 in the dirt. there is no sound.

i want the morning. the sun.

signs of life in the grass.

Amanda Earl is the managing editor of Bywords.ca &  the Bywords Quarterly Journal & the (fallen) angel of AngelHousePress. She tries to write poetry & create visual poems. She is a smut writer & a song writer, a lapsed guitar player, a dabbler in acrylics & an enthusiast of city walks. Her poetry has been published in Australia, Canada, England, France, India and the USA. Her visual poetry has been exhibited in Russia. Please follow Amanda on Twitter @KikiFolle. For more information, please visit www.amandaearl.com.